Espionage
by CaitlynMacKenzie
Summary: It's been almost two years since Veronica's last investigation and they are doing "normal" Logan & Veronica-style. He has his honorable discharge and she's ready to return to field work, but she doesn't want to take this case until something happens that changes her mind. This is part three of my Veronica Mars series. It follows the events of "Come Back to Me" and "A Closed Set."
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

"Duncan?" Almost thirteen years and he still looked the same. There was a wariness in his blue eyes that was new and they were framed by some new lines. His hair was lighter, closer to blond, as were the mustache and closely-trimmed beard, but overall, the same.

"Veronica," he pulled her into a tight hug before she could stop him. She remained stiff in his arms not returning the embrace. This was a homecoming she was never planning on having and she didn't quite know what to say to him or how to react.

The sound of little feet running across the floor was followed by peals of laughter and a squealed, "Daddeeee." Whenever she was overly excited or _happy_, Wyatt stretched out the word to add the extra vowel sounds.

"Let's see who mommy's talking to jellybean." His sentence grew louder as he got closer to the door and then he was behind her. "You can let go of my wife now."

Duncan released her immediately. "Sorry, I….Logan?" He made a move to hug him too, but stopped when he saw Logan's stony expression.

They faced off and the air around them grew tense. Logan moved out from behind her and took a step toward the door effectively putting his body between her and Duncan. This had the potential to get very bad, very fast. She knew this reaction from Logan wasn't jealousy and it wasn't about Aaron, it was because of her. _If Wyatt wasn't here_...

She looked at their daughter; there was a slight frown on Wyatt's face. Aware of the change in Daddy's mood, she'd grown pensive and quiet. Pressing her tiny palms against Logan's cheeks, she turned his face toward hers to reclaim his attention and said, "pool Daddy?"

Her normal exuberance was subdued and, realizing it was because of him, Logan forced himself to relax. He smiled, "just as demanding as your mama." He planted a soft kiss on her nose, "okay let's go swimming." Wyatt clapped her approval.

"You are so wrapped Echolls," Veronica admonished with a smile.

"Yep," he snagged Wyatt's pinkie and wiggled it, "around this one, right here." His gaze moved to her, unsure and questioning. Veronica put a reassuring hand on his arm and he gave an almost imperceptible nod before looking at Duncan, "you should probably come in."

To say Duncan looked shocked would be utilizing her gift for understatement. Veronica wasn't sure if it was the _married with child_ or if it was the addition of _Logan_ to the equation that had him so stunned. She pulled the door a little wider, "we can talk by the pool." There was no way Logan would take Wyatt swimming and leave them alone in the house. It took a second for Duncan to cross the threshold. "Do you want something to drink? Lemonade?"

"Sure, okay," Duncan mumbled while his eyes roamed over the living room and settled at a point on the far wall. Veronica followed his gaze to their wedding photos; Logan in his service dress blues, her in a simple gown and Wyatt in pink. _Not just your imagination running away with you_.

Logan frowned, "I'll get the lemonade. You go sit." She waited until his back was turned before rolling her eyes. If it was up to him, the heaviest thing she'd be allowed to lift would be her own body and only to go to the bathroom. _Five more months Veronica, five more months_. He put Wyatt down, "go outside with Mommy and I'll be out in a little bit."

Once he was in the kitchen, she turned to Duncan. This was beyond strange. There was so much history between them; first boyfriend to potential brother and back to boyfriend, yet she didn't know anything about him now and she didn't know what to say. Veronica settled for, "how's Lilly?"

"Laurel. We had to," he started to say _run_ and changed course, "move when she was four and it meant changing her name. She doesn't want…she's been Laurel a long time."

"Thirteen this year, right?" He nodded. Lilly…_Laurel_ was twelve now; the same age Veronica was when she met Logan. "That makes me feel really old."

"Imagine how I feel."

Wyatt was waiting impatiently at the French doors leading to the yard. House rule was no backyard without Mommy or Daddy. "Me go 'wimming Mama."

"We're coming sweet pea." She pushed open the door and Wyatt raced onto the deck. There were only two speeds for her; incredibly fast or unbelievably slow. Of course the slow setting was only for things she didn't want to do like go to bed. "Wyatt will be two in April."

"She talks really well."

Veronica grinned, "she inherited Logan's gift for gab. First _sentence_ at eleven months and," she flapped her fingers and thumb together in the _blah-blah_ hand gesture, "she even talks in her sleep." Wyatt was standing at the edge of the deck, staring at the pool and bouncing on her feet. "Logan's teaching her to swim."

They moved from the deck toward the chairs by the pool. "So…you and Logan. I'm guessing you got back together after I left?" Putting their dating history into an explanation would require charts and graphs.

Wyatt was getting even more impatient; she ran back in the house to check on Logan's progress. Waiting was not her strong suit; _wonder where she gets that from_. Veronica watched her until she was safely inside and heard Logan call _got her_. Turning back to Duncan, she picked up the thread of their conversation. "We started dating after graduation and then through our first year of college. After that, we, um, split up and reconnected at the reunion." _Wow when you put it that way Veronica it sounds like the plot of a romantic comedy_. "I heard you cut a deal."

"Not really a deal per se; custodial interference instead of kidnapping and the statute…" He shook his head as if it was all beyond him. Veronica understood his confusion. Custodial interference was extremely complicated based on jurisdictions. In some states it wasn't even considered a crime.

"It must feel good to be home."

Before he could answer, Wyatt raced back to them with Logan following at a slower pace. He held a tray with a pitcher of lemonade, plastic tumblers and a _huge_ BLT, "your mid-morning snack."

"Ha-ha." She bit her lip; trying to resist the sandwich, but it was calling to her and she was a little _peckish_. Veronica relented, took a bite and groaned the minute it hit her tongue; bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado with garlic mayo on a toasted sourdough boule. She shoved the sandwich back in her mouth for another bite and spoke around it, "this is amazing."

Logan smirked. "That's what I thought." He turned to Duncan, "pregnant Veronica is a veritable eating machine." She frowned at him and he gave her his most innocent smile, which she was _not_ buying no matter how hard he tried to sell it. His pronouncement made her rethink his earlier reaction; maybe it was slightly about jealousy. _Why don't you just stick a flag in my navel and claim me as yours?_ As if he could read her thoughts, Logan gave her another grin; this one a little less innocent. "I better get in the pool before princess jellybean has me sentenced to the stockades."

He tugged off his shirt and scooped up Wyatt. Pool time was their thing. Sometimes she'd swim with them, but mostly she liked to sit and watch them play together. He'd been taking Wyatt 'swimming' since she was six months old; first to get her comfortable in and around the water and then to teach her to float. She was now able to swim from him to the side of the pool. It was really more leap from Daddy's arms, doggie paddle, grab the edge and pull herself to the side, but Logan thought she was ready for the Olympics. Veronica grinned.

"Pregnant?"

To delay answering, she took another bite of her sandwich. This pregnancy was different than her first. Morning sickness was a misnomer; she'd been sick almost all day, every day, since around week five and her appetite was just now returning to…_veritable eating machine_. "I'm due in August."

Wyatt was sitting on the steps and Logan was swimming underwater toward her. As he grew closer she started to shriek with laughter because she knew what was coming in their little game of _shark_; Daddy would eat her toes, pop out of the water and she would splash him, which would make him swim away only to do it again.

Veronica wanted to be in the pool with them instead of talking to Duncan. It was unseasonably warm and she was _hot_. She stripped off her coverall, waited for Logan to pop out of the water and tossed it on his head. Pulling it off, his head whipped around and a slow smile crossed his face as his eyes skimmed over her body. _Definitely a hot day_.

He sat on the steps next to Wyatt, bent his head and whispered something in her ear. Her tiny head bobbed up and down and she grinned. _Uh-oh_. The now soaking wet coverall flew through the air and landed across her legs with a splat. Veronica stuck her tongue out at them, which made Wyatt erupt in a fit of giggles.

Duncan was watching the entire exchange with an expression that was both astonished and a little sad. When he caught her staring at him, he smiled. "I just never figured _you_…and with Logan."

The implication of his comment made her angry. Veronica frowned, "you don't know anything about me. I'm not eighteen anymore."

"I didn't mean to imply…I'm sure you're a…" his voice trailed off. She didn't know if he stopped talking because he was afraid to make it worse or if he didn't believe what he was about to say. Either way it only served to make her angrier. Realizing he stuck his foot in his mouth, he gave her a sheepish grin. "Can we start over? I'm…it's just really good to see you."

Veronica was surprised to find the feeling wasn't mutual. She wondered if it would be different had he returned to her life when she was in New York before Logan. It was possible, but she didn't think so. She'd worked through her feelings about him and for him a long time ago, relegating him to the past where he belonged. Having him here in her home, interrupting her new life, made her irritable. _Maybe that's just pregnancy hormones_. "Where are you and Lil…Laurel staying?"

"At the Grand for now; I'm going to start looking for a house as soon as possible. I want to get her settled; moving here has been…an _adjustment_ for her."

"Did you have to move a lot?"

His response was a humorless laugh, "define a lot." He shook his head, "we went to Australia right after Mexico, but one of my dad's business rivals saw us when he was there on vacation."

"Is that when you changed her name?"

Duncan nodded, "after that we moved to places with no extradition treaty with the U.S.; an island in Croatia and then for the past few years, Hong Kong."

Wyatt was chewing Logan's ear off with tales of Grandpa's new dog, Partner, and asking why they didn't have a dog, but Veronica knew he was listening to both conversations just like she was. _It's probably good he's distracted or princess jellybean would have a puppy by tomorrow. _"What made you decide to come home now?"

"When my dad…" _Tried to kill me and was shot by Clarence Wiedman_. "I needed to come home to run the company." Briefly she wondered what her abnormal psych professor would have to say about the fathers of _both_ her high school boyfriends trying to kill her. "The Mannings didn't protest, they…they just really wanted to see their granddaughter."

"And have they? Seen her?" _My curiosity is almost as insatiable as my appetite_. She finished her sandwich and put the plate back on the tray. _Still hungry_. Veronica frowned at the empty plate and Logan laughed. Shooting him a nasty look, she turned her body away from the pool. She felt him behind her seconds before his arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders. "You're getting me wet." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized her mistake.

"We have company _dear_, but I'll be more than happy to take care of that later." Her face flushed and Duncan gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Do you want another sandwich?"

She tilted her head back to see him, "cookies?"

"Cookie!" Wyatt squealed with delight and started for the house.

"You really need to watch what you say Veronica." He removed his arms and draped his dry towel around her. "Wyatt wait for me." She paused on the steps to the deck. Logan crossed the lawn, wrapped Wyatt in her Tinkerbelle towel and hoisted her onto his shoulders. As they approached the door, he told her to duck and instead she leaned over him, squeezed his face between her palms and kissed his forehead. Wyatt was a big fan of forehead and nose kisses; _just like Daddy_.

"It's like he's Logan, but at the same time…not Logan." She knew exactly what he meant. The wit and charm were still there…_and the inappropriate comments, don't forget those Veronica_, but he was also _softer_. "How is he with…" Her eyes narrowed in an unspoken warning:_ watch what you say about him _and Duncan abruptly stopped talking. Instead of finishing his original question, he asked, "does he like being a dad?"

She smiled, "he loves it." They were inseparable since Logan got his discharge four months ago. He seemed perfectly happy playing house husband for now, but she couldn't silence the small voice in her head that was afraid he would regret his decision to leave the Navy. "What about you; looking forward to being the dad of a teenager?"

He shook his head, "not if she's anything like…" _Lilly_. The name blossomed in the air and a long moment of silence passed between them. "I saw the movie."

Trina used the insurance proceeds to pay off some of her debt and Logan took care of the rest. After making him a silent partner in Echo Films, they took the original script back to the studio. Justin Smith was hired to do some rewrites; they got an actual director to helm the film and Charlene Lawrence rejoined the project. It was both a commercial and critical success. Charlene won her best actress Oscar and Echo Films was flush. There was no more acting or directing for Trina, but she was enjoying her new roles as producer and Aunt Rina. "What did you think?"

"It was good; Lilly would've loved it."

Veronica nodded. That's what made them decide to go ahead with it; a tribute to Lilly, but there was no alternate ending and a few names were changed, specifically hers. Logan chose then to return with a plate of cookies. "Where's Wyatt?"

"I left her with the cookie jar and told her to have at it so she's probably passed out on the kitchen floor in sugar shock." His tone was serious enough to cause Duncan to frown his disapproval.

"Good plan; now I won't have to worry about feeding her for the rest of the day."

Logan nodded, "totally solved the nap problem too."

"Just another thing I love about you Echolls, your efficiency." They grinned at each other and Duncan finally clued in to the fact that they were joking.

He held up his cell phone; a view of Wyatt lying on the couch watching television filled the screen. They didn't let her watch regular television ever, but they'd just introduced her to Disney movies and she adored them. "The Little Mermaid; I almost slipped and put on Dumbo."

Veronica groaned. _That would've been a nightmare; literally_. The first time she saw the scene of Mrs. Jumbo in her cage singing Baby of Mine to Dumbo, Wyatt's eyes rounded in horror, her bottom lip quivered and she started to bawl. She was inconsolable and plastered to Veronica for the rest of the night. "We should throw that out."

"Already done." He joined them at the table, propped his phone against the umbrella pole so he could keep an eye on Wyatt and turned to Duncan. "So why are you here?"

She didn't know if he meant here as in Neptune or here as in their house and neither did Duncan. "I thought about staying away, but my mom really pushed for me to come home; she was the one who worked things out with the Mannings. I think she's lonely."

Logan smirked. "Hmm, I don't remember Cruella being lonely; are you sure she just didn't need help making her coat?"

The three of them shared a smile at the time-honored tradition of Celeste-bashing and for a minute they were teenagers again. Veronica's gaze drifted to the empty chair and she could almost hear Lilly, _Dalmatians are so last season, Logan_. She shook her head, refilled their glasses of lemonade and poured one for Logan. "Why aren't you staying with her?"

Duncan snorted, "you're not serious right?"

Veronica conceded the point. She would rather live in Logan's old dump above the liquor store than live with Celeste Kane. "And you're running Kane Software now?"

"Sort of." He took a long sip of his lemonade. "Clarence provided me with a high school diploma under my new name. It was enough to enroll at the University of Melbourne- business major, but I didn't get to finish."

Living on the run to save his daughter was the most admirable thing Duncan ever did. For once, he didn't stand idly by and just let the Mannings take custody, but the sacrifices were plenty. When she helped him run, part of her thought he was crazy even though there was no other way. Now that she had Wyatt she better understood that there were no sacrifices you wouldn't make to protect your child. Logan looked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing. A bit of the uneasiness surrounding this reunion ebbed.

"The Chief Operating Officer, Charles Shepherd is in charge of day-to-day operations and he's been acting as CEO since my dad… Now that I'm back, I've taken over, but there's a lot to learn."

Veronica glanced at the cell phone, "I should probably feed her lunch before she falls asleep." It was a hint that it was time for him to go, but he didn't take it. She sighed and started to gather up the glasses.

"The thing is, Kane Software is in the middle of developing a piece of cutting-edge technology and I think someone's trying to steal it." Her hands stilled as a sense of dread descended over her. She was positive she knew why he was here and his next words confirmed her suspicions. "I really need your help Veronica."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Leaving Logan and Duncan in the living room with Wyatt as a buffer, she fixed lunch; hummus, fresh turkey and spinach leaves on a whole wheat wrap. She rolled the sandwich and sliced it into pinwheels. Wyatt was learning her shapes and this week she was obsessed with circles. It was easier to get her to eat if all her food was round.

Using an apple corer, Veronica created a tube of cheddar cheese and started slicing it into thick nickel-size circles. She stopped when she heard Duncan, "she looks like Veronica."

Moving the cutting board to the opposite counter near the doorway, she awaited Logan's response. _I am not eavesdropping; I'm concerned_. "Yeah," was his mumbled reply. She leaned to the side to peek into the room. All three of them were facing the television; Wyatt was curled on Logan's lap, sucking her thumb. Before Veronica could pull back, Logan turned his head and caught her spying. "She has her mother's curiosity too."

She smiled at him, scooted back into the kitchen and got grapes from the fridge. Putting them between two plates, she sliced between the dishes and cut them in half. _Thanks Dick_. He'd laughed when he saw her cutting them one at a time and demonstrated his neat trick. _Now if he could teach me a way to make them triangles for next week_.

In the living room, Duncan asked, "the Navy?"

"Mustered out." The conversation was stilted and awkward with another long silence before Logan asked, "Hong Kong?"

"I wanted an English speaking school for Laurel; we lived in The Peak not far from Wan Chai."

"I've been there," surprise tinged his words. "We docked at Fenwick Pier…the red-light district…" His voice dropped too low for her to hear. _Not that I want to know what he was doing in the red-light district_. "…very popular with the sailors."

Duncan laughed, "I can see why…man, I can't believe we were so close."

"I…" The volume of Ursula's evil laughter drowned out the rest of Logan's sentence. Veronica shuffled closer to the door. "Ever go to Neptune two?"

"Once when…" Again she missed the end of the story, but whatever it was they both found it amusing; their laughter mingling over the sound of _The Little Mermaid_.

"I need to see that picture." There was no verbal response from Duncan and she assumed it was a nod. _Boys_.

Veronica arranged the food on a plate, filled a sippy cup with milk and headed inside, "lunchtime."

Wyatt pulled her thumb from her mouth, "cheese?"

"Yes little mouse and grapes and turkey too. Do you want to eat at your table?" Wyatt nodded and slid off Logan's lap. Veronica put her lunch on the white wood table in front of the pink pastel chair.

"Daddy too," she pointed to the green chair, which was reserved for Logan for all their fancy tea parties.

Veronica was about to make an excuse for him when he turned off the television and took his seat at the table; eating his knees in the tiny chair. "Totally wrapped," she whispered in his ear. He smiled, perfectly happy with her assessment. "Do you want lunch too?"

He shook his head and Wyatt held out a piece of cheese for him, "me share Daddy." He ate the cheese and nibbled on her fingers.

Veronica turned to Duncan, "lunch? There are more sandwiches in the kitchen."

"No thanks."

"Okay then so tell me about this cutting edge technology," she took the seat across from him and waited. Now that she was focused and willing to listen, he seemed reluctant to talk. Veronica blew out a puff of air in exasperation.

"We…no one discusses the project outside of work, we all signed confidentiality agreements." He shook his head, "our lawyer didn't want me to talk to _you_ unless you signed one too." His cheeks flushed in embarrassment at the admission. "I said we could trust you."

_Hello? Accomplice to a federal kidnapping here._ "Gee, thanks."

He sighed, "I should probably start at the beginning."

"There's an idea."

Duncan ignored the sarcasm, "when I was in Hong Kong I was approached by this couple, James and Mai Soong; he's a computer engineer and she's a programmer. They knew who I was and they were looking for funding to develop this product." She gave him an encouraging nod. "It's a computer tablet that's as thin as a sheet of paper and just as flexible. We're calling it Smartpaper."

"Okay." It didn't sound that impressive to her. Every day companies were trying to make electronics that were smaller and thinner.

Her lack of interest in the actual product was apparent to him. "You really need to see the prototype to understand…it's waterproof and solar powered and we're also developing a phone with the same technology. It will respond to bend commands."

_Mac_ would probably care about all these bells and whistles, but she was more interested in the case. "Are they working on it in Hong Kong?"

Duncan shook his head, "the Chinese government still kind of supports the idea of collective ownership. They've made a lot of changes to their intellectual property laws, but…" He shrugged, "the Soongs are here on work visas and they're applying for citizenship."

"I think that's enough cheese." Veronica glanced at the table. Logan was scooping the remaining cheese circles off Wyatt's plate and she did not look happy. "Try some of your turkey."

She scrunched up her face and jabbed the pinwheels with her finger. "No like it."

"You haven't eaten it yet."

"It's gween." _That's what I get for trying to sneak spinach past her_.

"You like grapes and they're green." Logan's logic did not persuade her. She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "One bite and if you don't like it Daddy will get rid of the green stuff." That was their deal; she had to at least _try_ something before declaring she wouldn't eat it and usually Wyatt was willing to play along.

She took a bite, but in a matter of seconds she stuck out her tongue and let the partially chewed sandwich fall on the table. "Yuck." Logan handed her the sippy cup to wash away the bad taste and took apart the pinwheels leaving just the turkey on her plate.

Veronica pulled her attention back to Duncan, "why do you think someone is trying to steal it?"

"Only eleven people know about the project including me; yet there are rumors that our competitor, Microtech, is developing a bendable phone."

"Isn't it possible they came up with it on their own?"

He frowned at her, "at the exact same time?" She shrugged; it sounded plausible to her. Technology moved so fast and there were plenty of products on the market that closely resembled each other. "One of our initial drawings was stolen."

"Way to bury the lead." There were plenty of ways to commit corporate espionage; tapping phones, stealing files, dumpster diving. "So you think someone at Microtech broke in…"

Duncan shook his head, "there were no signs of a break in."

"They pulled it from your trash? Maybe paid a janitor to…"

"Nothing is kept on paper. All the data is stored on a hard drive that's kept under lock and key. At the end of each day, every note, drawing, _doodle_ is scanned into the computer and the paper is shredded."

"There's this newfangled thing called computer hacking, maybe you've heard of it?"

He smiled, "glad to see your love of sarcasm hasn't changed."

"Qu'est-ce que c'est sarcasm?" From the corner of her eye she could see Logan shaking his head; a smirk on his face.

"The computer is a standalone; it's not networked and it has no Internet access. I think it's an inside job. One of the people working on the project is selling the information to Microtech."

"Isn't there still a way to access the computer? I remember something about the NSA using radio waves to…"

"The entire lab is protected by a Faraday cage."

Veronica arched a brow at him, "Faraday cage?" Duncan gave her a blank stare and shrugged.

"Like the jar in Enemy of the State." She frowned at Logan's explanation. "You know the movie with Gene Hackman and Will Smith? A Faraday cage is a grounded screen that blocks electromagnetic signals; so no radio waves, no Wi-Fi or cell signals either." She gave him a questioning look. "Planes are shielded to act like Faraday cages. They're even trying to develop a cage for naval ships by using the electrical conductivity of seawater."

"So no parabolic dish to listen in on interesting conversations?"

He smirked, "they're anti-Veronica devices."

"I don't think I like this Faraday."

"Well I'm sure he would've loved you," he kissed the top of her head on his way to the kitchen with Wyatt's dishes. She trailed behind him like a little shadow. "Stories and then nap time, jellybean."

"Moo, Baa, La, La, La Daddy."

Veronica grinned. It was her favorite story book and Logan really committed to the animal voices; his best was the snort and snuff of the rhinoceroses, which made Wyatt laugh and try to imitate him. Duncan was really eating into her family time. "Do you want me to run background checks on the employees?"

"We already did that before we hired them and we continue to monitor their finances for any unusual activity," he shook his head, "there's been nothing out of the ordinary."

"We?"

"CW, he's the one who ran the background checks and set up all the security protocols. His company patrols the grounds after hours and there's a man stationed outside the lab overnight."

"Isn't that a little excessive? I mean it's not exactly the cure for cancer; it's a computer."

"It's technology worth billions of dollars."

_And the rich get richer_. "If nothing is kept on paper, how do you know a drawing went missing?"

"We have auditing software on the computer and once a week we review the reports; the PDF of the drawing was copied to a USB."

She frowned, "why not copy the entire hard drive? Why just that one file?"

"CW thinks that was the bait; proof to show Microtech they had access to the research."

That made sense. One copied file might go unnoticed or could be explained away as an error on the audit, but not an entire hard drive and one file would be enough to go peddling for a buyer. "I'm not really sure what you want me to do for you."

"I want you to come work at Kane Software; you know, undercover and figure out who's stealing the information."

Her deal with Logan was over and she'd _mostly_ stuck to her end of their bargain; concentrating on bigger office space, hiring new people, and expanding the business. There were a few forays into the world of the short stay motel and money shots, but mainly she'd left the potentially dangerous work to her dad and Mars Investigations new field agent, Lisa.

Now that Logan was home she was back to handling any case that crossed her desk. She just didn't know if she wanted to handle this one. Duncan was studying her, but unlike Logan, he was never adept at reading her moods. She kept her features schooled in a placid mask and her tone casual. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee; do you want one?"

"Okay." He followed her into the kitchen and she gestured toward the carousel of K-cups. Duncan selected a regular Italian roast and she went for a decaf mocha java. After fixing their coffees, she took a seat at the table.

"Why do you want to hire me? Why not just have Clarence take care of it?"

"He's actually the one who suggested it. He said you haven't really been working and with our history no one would be suspicious about me hiring you."

_Our history. _Those were the words that gave her pause. "I don't know enough about computers to fake my way onto a project like this. You need something Googled, I'm your girl; design new software? Not so much."

"We have a secretary that takes care of the scanning and shredding at the end of the day, but it's…time consuming. I suggested we hire another person," he pointed to her.

Logan walked into the kitchen before she could answer. "That didn't take long. How many times did she make you read it?" He wiggled three fingers at her and she smiled. "At least it's short."

"I do have a fondness for short…stories _and_ people." She rolled her eyes. "You keep doing that and Wyatt's going to pick up your bad habit."

"Then maybe you should stop making with the cringe-worthy jokes."

"Who was joking?" He fixed himself a cup of coffee, "and FYI my jokes are a scream."

"Scream inducing."

"I've been known to induce screaming, but not usually in the kitchen…_although_," he patted the counter top and waggled his eyebrows, "Wyatt _is_ sleeping."

Duncan shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable and her cheeks were burning. "Logan," she chided and he grinned at her. "Uh," she shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned back to Duncan, "did you specifically tell the others you wanted to hire me?"

"Not by name if that's what you mean."

They didn't need the work. Apparently solving the homicide of a famous actress did wonders for one's business. Mars Investigations was busy and they were making enough money to be able to pay Logan back for his unconventional loan; even though he refused to take it. _Stubborn man_. "I think it would be better if my dad handled your case."

She didn't know who was more surprised Duncan or her husband. Both of them were staring at her as if she was suddenly naked. Veronica glanced down. _Nope still wearing clothes_.

"Your dad won't exactly…fit in at Kane Software." He frowned, "what I mean is…"

"I know what you meant." Keith Mars had history with the Kane family, but so did she and neither of them would blend in at Kane Software despite what Duncan thought. "Our new agent, Lisa, will be perfect for the undercover work and my dad can handle the background stuff."

"Is it because you're pregnant?" _Or because you don't want to work with me_. He didn't say it, but she'd seen his expression enough times in the past to know he was hurt.

She went with the lie because it was easier than trying to explain and nodded. "Like Clarence told you; I haven't been doing field work and I'm not really sure I'm up for it right now." Logan was smirking. He knew she was full of shit, but he kept his mouth shut. "I'll still be working on the case with my dad, but he has more experience with industrial espionage than I do."

He turned his head to look at Logan who quickly took a sip of coffee to mask his expression. Seeing nothing in his relaxed posture that belied Veronica's claims, Duncan nodded. "Okay. Do I need to meet with him?"

"No. I'll fill him in and have him call you at the Grand to finalize the details. Lisa can probably start work first thing Monday."

He stared into his cup, "I…I really want you two to meet Laurel; maybe we can…" Raising his face, he leveled her with a beseeching stare.

Veronica put her hand on his arm, "dinner?" A wide smile of relief crossed his face. She glanced at Logan who nodded in agreement. "We can go to Belmont Park; dinner and a ride on the Dipper?"

Logan smirked, "you only want to go there for the monster ice cream cones."

"Uh, you're forgetting the hot dog on a stick and funnel cake." He shook his head. "Well it's not like I can go on any rides."

"That doesn't mean you have to eat your way through the park."

"You have fun your way and I'll have fun my way." Logan opened his mouth and she cut him off, "don't even say it." His lascivious grin suggested there were plenty of ways for them to have fun _together. _Veronica stood up; _time for Duncan to go home now_. "Does next Saturday work for you?" She collected the mugs and put them in the sink.

"Yeah that'll be perfect; Laurel will love it." He pursed his lips, "of course she won't _admit_ she's having a good time, but…" He shrugged.

"Ah, the apathetic and indifferent teen years; I remember them well."

Veronica rolled her eyes, "you should remember them well; you played them at expert level."

"I do most things at expert level," Logan frowned, "or have you already forgotten about last…"

She clamped her hand over his mouth, "why don't you walk Duncan to the door?"

He nodded and she moved her hand, "…night." His expression was completely unapologetic. She smiled and turned away to start loading the dishwasher. Logan pushed himself off the counter and walked toward Duncan, "do any surfing in Big Wave Bay?"

"Some, but the triads smuggle…" The rest of their conversation was lost to her as they moved further away from the kitchen. It was more than a little frustrating to have missed most of their dialogue from today. Briefly she wondered if Logan remembered to turn off the baby monitor when they came in from the pool. If not, she could check their cloud account for the video footage. _Not that I'm going to do that_.

"Not really sure if you're up for it right now?" He was leaning in the doorway.

"I'm not."

The words caused his teasing smile to disappear and concern pooled in his warm brown eyes. "Are you feeling okay?" Moving behind her, he slid his arms around her waist and rested his hands on the small mound of her belly.

Veronica leaned against him, "I feel fine. I just don't want to do it." She turned in his arms to face him, "thanks for not giving me away."

"I'm not going to get on that ride again." She gave him a puzzled head tilt. "The Kane carousel; where we move based on the tune they play. You're my wife and you come first; your secrets are my secrets."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

After Duncan interrupted their weekend, first with his appearance on Saturday and then an entire Sunday morning spent briefing her dad and Lisa on his case, she considered taking off from work, but her little family wasn't home today. Logan and Dottie's son, Jake, were taking Wyatt to look at planes.

He'd already decided against purchasing the Cessna 152, _a Land-O-Matic_, simply because it was too easy to fly. _Logan and his love of all things difficult_. He was torn between a Piper Warrior and a Piper Tomahawk, but he really wanted to go up in the Liberty XL-2. When Wyatt announced, "_me go flying_," this morning on their way out of the house, Veronica almost fainted and Logan's, "_don't worry she'll be fine_," did nothing to calm her fears. _I should've gone with them_. The idea of her baby in one of those tiny little planes made her dizzy.

Veronica parked the BMW in her reserved spot and headed inside. Their new office space was technically old office space. When the 09er club opened down the street from Mars Investigations it gentrified the entire neighborhood making it too expensive for them to stay, but now they were back. The building had undergone major renovations and it was definitely ritzier than when they left. Gone were the worn vinyl tile floors, dingy walls and commercial glass office door. In their place were walnut wood floors with matching doors and moldings, but they'd kept some of the architectural features she loved like the wood-beamed ceilings and the stained glass.

Logan joked that the only reason she chose their old building was so that he wouldn't unexpectedly stop by in the middle of the afternoon; _mister usually avoid buildings with stained glass_, but the real reason was that it felt like home. Even with all the changes to the building and the neighborhood there was something about walking through the familiar front door that gave her a little jolt of happiness. _Thomas Wolfe was wrong_.

They were on the ground floor in a larger suite; four offices, a professionally decorated reception area, their own bathroom and a small kitchen. Most of the kitchen counter space was occupied by an _expensive_ Breville Oracle Espresso machine, which Logan said was an office-warming present, but was in reality a gift for Mac. There was some discussion about him owing her for a candid picture of a pregnant Veronica in his boxer shorts and fuzzy socks and Mac was happy with her perfectly brewed lattes; _it's not a BMW, but it'll do_.

"Good morning Mrs.…" Veronica held up her finger to silence the new secretary. She'd told Paige several times that at work she was Veronica _Mars_ and to please call her Veronica, but she continued to persist with the Mrs. Echolls. That was the one and only unpleasant side effect to her marriage. "Sorry, Veronica."

Paige was a recent hire. Despite the fresh-faced and naïve exterior, she was very smart and good at her job. Unlike their last secretary whose only skill seemed to be an advanced degree in shamelessly flirting with all males under the age of dead, Paige recently finished Hearst with a double major in English and Economics and was deciding what to pursue in graduate school. "Is my dad in yet?"

"He's in his office with Dottie." She handed her a pile of messages, "Duncan Kane called twice this morning and said it was important."

"Thanks." _Duncan Kane will just have to wait_. She rapped on her dad's door before entering. Dottie was sitting on the edge of the desk watching Keith hang his framed panoramic photo of Qualcomm Stadium from when the San Diego Padres won the National League Championship. Veronica grinned, "what's the difference between a Padres fan and a baby?" Her father shot her a look over his shoulder. "A baby will stop crying after awhile."

"You resemble my daughter, but she would know better than to make a Padres joke to her beloved father."

"I got a million of 'em. What's the difference between dirt and the San Diego Padres? Nothing; they both always get swept." Dottie laughed.

"I'm going to have to ask you both to leave now and then I'm going to have a serious discussion with my son-in-law about his influence on my only child."

Dottie patted his arm, "don't give up hope; there's still a chance that Wyatt will be a baseball fan."

"Opening Day baby."

Veronica rolled her eyes at Dottie who shook her head. The two of them had been listening to the_ Opening Day Plan_ endlessly since Christmas. Keith, Logan, Dottie's three sons and Wyatt were going to spend the day at Petco Park for an afternoon of Padres baseball in what Keith hoped would be the beginning of a new family ritual. "Did Clarence send over the background checks on the Kane Software employees?"

"He brought them by personally." He pointed to the thick file on his desk, "it's not that I don't love the weird assortment of people you collect, but no one should have to deal with Clarence Wiedman before their morning cup of coffee."

"Finally figured out how to use the espresso machine?"

"No this here is an average Joe who likes his coffee the same way; plain and ordinary. I stopped at 7-Eleven like the rest of the poor working stiffs."

"Don't worry beloved father; I see a Mr. Coffee Machine in your near future." Veronica picked up the file. "It will be old and obsolete just like your dreams of the Padres ever winning the Series."

"You're lucky I love you kiddo."

She kissed his cheek and took the background checks to her office. Compared to her father's office, her space seemed generic and sterile. There were no framed family photos or laminated degrees. A '_What Your Office Says about You'_ article indicated her lack of obvious personal items meant she was emotionally unavailable and cold. She preferred to think of it as cautious and private. Besides anyone who really knew her would be able to identify all the personal touches around the room; a small wood box with a carved sweet pea flower on its lid, the crowbar resting on her bookshelf, and an impressionist painting called _The Pacific_ by Maurice Braun, which was from Lynn's collection of artwork and made her think of Logan.

Veronica opened the file from Clarence. According to Duncan, there were eleven people who knew the details of the project including him. There was no background check on Duncan and the ones on both James and Mai Soong were painfully slim. She guessed it was because of their recently transplanted status from Hong Kong to California. She put them to the side and made a mental note to have Mac look into both of them.

Of the remaining eight people four held Masters Degrees in computer science, information technology, mechanical engineering, and applied science; two were computer programmers and the last two were the COO Charles Shepherd and the secretary responsible for shredding, Karen Brighton.

Karen was the most obvious candidate and the one Lisa would be focusing on first. She definitely had the ability to commit the crime since it was only a matter of copying computer files (means), she made the least amount of money (motive) and she was alone with all the research for several hours each day (opportunity). Veronica put the background check back in the file and pushed it away. _Not my case_.

While waiting for her computer to boot, she flipped through the phone messages ignoring the two from Duncan and smiling at the one from Wallace. She'd just talked to him last night and knew the only reason for this morning's call was his desire to talk to Paige. _You're a sly dog Papa Bear_. Veronica tossed it in the trash with the ones from Duncan and returned her other calls; clients looking for updates on their cases.

When she was done with the calls, she turned her attention to the inbox. As promised, before heading to Kane Software this morning, Lisa had left the files for the two cases she was working. One was a nasty custody battle involving a rich 09er and trophy wife number three. He was claiming trophy wife was a drug abuser and seeking full custody of Junior. He'd hired Mars Investigations to get proof of her drug use and Lisa had been following her around for the past three nights without finding anything. Her cynical note in the margin, _maybe Daddy only wants custody in order to retain control of Junior's trust fund, _made Veronica smile.

The second case was insurance fraud; a slip and fall. They were hired by her old friend from Smart Start, Jimmy Kincaid. Apparently, one Michael Galan claimed he tripped over improperly secured cables and was seriously injured. He was collecting disability insurance and pursuing a lawsuit against not only Smart Start, but also the company Jimmy was working for at the time _and_ the convention center. Michael was asking for five million dollars in his suit, but Jimmy was sure he was faking it. Lisa hadn't done much with the case yet except for '_checked out his residence,'_ which was code for breaking and entering to search, where she _happened_ to overhear a message on his answering machine; _hey are we still on for bowling next Friday at Fun Bowl?_ Veronica marked the date in her calendar and added the words _get babysitter_ and _bring Logan_.

Glancing at the clock, she frowned. It was almost one and she hadn't heard the grinding, clanking, and gurgling noises from the espresso machine even once. She left her office in search of Mac. "Where is the Grand Poobah this morning?"

Paige didn't look up from the report she was transcribing, "job interview at Kane Software."

"Whatchu-talkin-bout-Willis?" Her surprise was evident in her voice and Paige's expression rapidly changed from concentration to deer-in-headlights.

"Uh, it's, uh, for that case Mr. M. and Lisa…"

The sound of the office door opening was followed by a happy cry of, "mama!" She turned toward her daughter, but not before catching the look of utter relief spread across Paige's face. Wyatt threw herself at Veronica's legs and she scooped her up in a hug. "Too tight," she started to wriggle and Veronica loosened her grip.

Logan and Jake exchanged _overprotective mom_ grins and she resisted the urge to hit them both. "I told you she'd be fine."

"Because she remained on the ground, right?" Jake shuffled his way toward the kitchen and Logan decided something on the ceiling required his immediate attention. _I knew it was too much to hope for_. "Logan."

He smiled, "we had fun didn't we jellybean?"

Wyatt's head bobbed up and down, "me like flying." Her eyes rounded in awe and in a dramatic whisper she added, "lotsa buttons Mama." She poked at the air and then flipped imaginary switches.

Veronica's head swiveled in Logan's direction, "you didn't actually let her _touch_ anything."

"Sure, I let her fly. She was doing pretty good too until the engine stalled and… I'm kidding Veronica." He wrapped his arms around the two of them, "we were on the ground for all button pushing."

"What's all the commotion out here? Some of us are trying to work you know," there was a wide grin on his face.

"Gwanpa!" Wyatt squirmed free and went running across the office to Keith. He swung her up in the air and spun her around. "Me went flying with Daddy and saw teals." Keith arched a brow at Logan.

"_Seals_; we flew past La Jolla Cove."

"Oh I understood the teals; I was _hoping_ I misunderstood the _flying_ part."

"She was perfectly safe Dad; Logan's an excellent pilot." Veronica could feel Logan's stare. She chanced a quick glance in his direction and instantly regretted it. Amusement danced in his eyes and his sly smile told her she was in trouble.

"As a matter of fact, Veronica is going flying with me this weekend." The challenge was unmistakable and he thought he had her. _Sucker_.

She gave him a sickly sweet smile, "oh _honey_, I would love to, but," she patted her tummy. "No small planes without cabin pressure while pregnant."

He moved closer like he was going to kiss her and whispered, "well played," in her ear.

Veronica turned her face, cupped the back of his head and brought his mouth to hers in a soft kiss. Before releasing him, she murmured, "slow learner."

Logan chuckled, "can I at least take my beautiful wife and daughter out for lunch?"

"I could be convinced."

"The mention of food wasn't enough?" She elbowed him. "I promised princess jellybean banana pancakes from the Mission Café…they have tamales _and_ nachos."

"Now you're speaking my language Echolls." Spicy food was all she wanted to eat lately; the hotter the better. Last night she added chili powder to vanilla ice cream and it was heavenly. "Where did Paige go?"

"I'm right here," she walked out of the kitchen with Jake in tow. _Uh-oh Papa Bear, you may have competition_. "I was just showing Jake how to work the espresso machine."

Jake held up his cup of coffee as proof. "I'm supposed to be picking up my mom." _Right your mom; not my secretary_. Jake Brennan was six feet of sexy; black hair, green eyes with a firm, square jaw and dimples. "Is she still here?"

Keith shook his head, "I gave her my car, but she wanted me to remind you about dinner tonight."

"Yes sir; I'll be there."

Veronica groaned, "don't call him sir; it will go to his head."

Logan smirked, "I seem to recall him really liking dude." Keith frowned at the two of them.

"No sad face Gwanpa," Wyatt stuck her fingers in the corners of his mouth and pushed his lips back into a smile. He gave her an actual smile and a big kiss before putting her down. She opened and closed her hand, palm pointed at her face in a backward wave, "bye-bye."

Logan scooped her up and put her on his shoulders. "Ready for lunch?"

"Pancakes!" Her expression grew serious and she leaned over Logan's head to see his face, "with nanas?"

"With bananas." Wyatt kissed his forehead and smiled. "Want to join us?"

Jake shook his head, "thanks, but I've gotta take a pass. Mom wants me to pick up Nick." Dread suffused his words and the two men exchanged a knowing look. Paige scooted closer to Jake and took his empty cup. He rewarded her with a grin and a flash of those dimples. "You I'll call," he turned back to Logan, "you I'll see tomorrow."

"And don't be late this time."

Jake started to flip him off, remembered Wyatt and dropped his arm. "Bye-bye bean." Wyatt leaned over and kissed his cheek. He offered a casual wave to the office before leaving.

"Tomorrow?" At her question, Logan nodded his head toward Wyatt and then gave it a small shake. It was their signal for _can't discuss in front of the baby_, but if the way Wyatt was staring at her was any indication it was time for a new system. Veronica smiled.

"She's doing the Veronica isn't she? Head tilt, narrowed eyes, highly suspicious."

"It's crossed with the Logan; sarcastic smirk and intense stare." They grinned at each other. "I'll meet you outside; I just want to talk to my dad for a minute." He kissed her forehead and headed out. Right before the door closed, she heard Wyatt ask _what 'morrow Daddy? _

_That's right Wyatt; you question your Daddy while I question mine_. This time she didn't knock. At the sound of the door, Keith looked up from the paper he was reading; his smile slowly fading at the expression on her face. "Why is Mac at Kane Software?"

"To get her old job back." Veronica just stared at him. "We needed someone on the inside who knows computers."

"And you just forgot to mention that part of the plan when we went over the case _in detail_ on Sunday?"

Keith shrugged, "Lisa suggested it after we left and I thought it was a good idea."

She picked up the phone on his desk and held the receiver to her ear, "it seems to be working; there's a dial tone and everything. Did you forget my number?"

"You said you didn't want to be involved in the case."

"No, what I said was I didn't want to have to deal with _Duncan_." Veronica returned the receiver to its cradle with a little more force than necessary. "But when you send one of my best friends…she's not an investigator Dad."

"I know that Veronica. We only asked her to learn about the project, nothing else and she wanted to do it. She seemed really excited about this Smartpaper."

She rolled her eyes, "have you met Mac? Of course she was excited, but that still isn't a reason…I don't like it."

"Lisa was hired to shred paper. That's only going to get her close to Karen. Mac will actually be able to work on the project." Keith abandoned his chair, circled the desk and stood in front of her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, "and that's all she'll be doing; working on the computers. No investigating, no undercover work and Lisa will be with her the entire time."

"I still don't like it."

He pulled her into a hug, "she'll be fine honey; don't worry." Veronica returned the hug. "And speaking of worry," he stepped back to see her face, "how are you and Logan doing?"

"You mean with Duncan being back?" He nodded and she shrugged. "We're going to have dinner with him and Laurel on Saturday."

"And Logan's okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"It's just that you and Duncan…" Keith shook his head, "forget I said anything; I'm sure it's fine." He gave her another hug, "aren't you supposed to be going to lunch? You don't want to keep Wyatt waiting too long for her pancakes."

Veronica frowned, "I love Logan."

"I know you do honey. Just remember to tell him that."

The words, _Logan knows he's got nothing to worry about_, were right there, but she held them back. After all their conversations about Duncan, he _should_ know there was nothing to worry about, but feelings weren't always rational. She remembered his face every time he looked at her with Duncan during senior year. Not the wiseass smirk he'd wear to cover his feelings, but his sad eyes.

Logan was so good to her when she went off the deep end about Lilly and Carrie; _I'm Veronica Mars, the consolation prize_. He was gentle and reassuring; _I didn't love either of them the way I love you…it's always been you Veronica_. Now it was her turn to do the same for him. "I will Dad."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

"Logan?" She snuggled closer and kissed his neck. His _mmm_ was a little testy and translated to: _I can hear you, but if you stop talking, I can continue sleeping_. Veronica smiled. They'd hardly seen each other all week. She'd been following the trophy wife around at night and he'd been off flying planes during the day. "I had a dream."

"It's _have_ a dream and we're not at the Lincoln monument, Veronica Luther King." _Even half asleep, he's quippy_. He frowned, opened his eyes and turned his head. "A bad dream? I thought they were gone?"

"They are," she assured him. "It wasn't that kind of dream and it wasn't last night."

He glanced at the clock, "you're waking me up at sex on a Saturday for dream analysis?"

She arched a brow at him, "sex?"

"Mmm hmm, that's what you call a Freudian slip and you know…" He cradled her hips, lifted her off the bed and positioned her on top of him. "…Freud said it's all about sex."

"A distant relative of yours I'm sure." Veronica leaned forward and kissed him. "Wyatt will be up soon and I want to tell you about my dream."

"I'd like to _show_ you mine." She waited for him to be serious. He sighed, took his hands off her and put them behind his head. "I'm all ears."

She shifted her body lower with a slow rotation of her hips, "_all_ ears?"

"Are you going to do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips?"

"Well, you know my hips don't lie." Logan sat up and slid his arms around her waist before crushing their mouths together. Her dream was momentarily forgotten in the taste of him and the feel of his hands as they moved up her back and tangled in her hair. A soft moan parted her lips and he deepened the kiss. Tugging her head back, he lowered his mouth to her neck. She shook her head, "talk first."

He fell back on the mattress taking her with him. Veronica rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. She loved having him home and being able to wake up with him every morning. Sometimes there was this disquieting voice in her mind insisting they were _too happy_ and she panicked at the thought. "Hey, enough of that," he caressed her cheek, "tell me about your dream."

She rested her chin on his chest so she could see his face. "How do you always know?" His arm tightened around her and he smiled; _silly question Veronica_. Kissing his cheek, she rested her head back on his shoulder. "It was the night before high school graduation and it was a great dream. My dad was still sheriff and my parents were together and happy."

"A little wish fulfillment?"

"Enough psychoanalysis Siggy," she took his hand and laced their fingers together, "when I got to school you were there with Duncan and Dick. Lilly was still alive; she was going to Vassar and home for Duncan's graduation."

"So were you and Duncan planning to get married before or after you finished Stanford?"

"I wasn't with Duncan," Veronica lifted her head and met his gaze, "I was with you." Surprised didn't begin to describe his expression; he looked astounded. "I'm not always," she shook her head, "I'm _never_ good at telling you how I feel, but my heart has always known that you're it for me; the one, _my_ one."

Logan cupped her face, "I love you Veronica Mars."

"Echolls." He pressed their foreheads together and kissed her nose. Veronica placed her palms on his chest and pushed him down to the mattress. "Now it's only sex-thirty and we," a long, lingering kiss, "might have time for a little sexual development." She kissed her way down his chest, across his stomach and disappeared under the blankets.

"I see we're starting with the oral stage." A rustling sound came from the baby monitor and Veronica popped her head out from beneath the sheets; finger pressed to her lips to shush him. His voice dropped to a whisper, "I'm not the loud one."

"No, but you are the talker." Silence reigned from the monitor. _Toddlers and foreplay- mutually exclusive_. She wriggled out of her bikini briefs, positioned herself above him and wrapped her hand around the base of his cock; slowly sinking down the hard length of him.

Slow was not the speed he wanted. His hips jerked off the mattress, burying himself deep inside and causing her to moan. Logan's hand covered her mouth, "loud one."

She nipped at his fingers and he moved his hand, "talker." Gripping her hips, he moved her up and down in time with his thrusts; establishing a hard and frantic pace. Another loud moan fell from her lips and he swallowed it with his mouth. Letting go of her hips, his hands slid up her skin under her sleep shirt and cupped her breasts; his thumbs sweeping back and forth across their sensitive peaks.

"Mama?" The sleepy cry from the baby monitor propelled them to move faster. Logan's hand dipped between their bodies; his thumb finding and circling her clit. Veronica clung to his shoulders, her nails leaving tiny crescents in his skin and tossed her head back. _Almost there_. Another, "_mama_," from the baby monitor; this one a little more alert than the last.

His fingers and mouth found all the right spots; playing her with a practiced ease that made her body thrum. She bit his shoulder to keep from crying out as her body convulsed around him. Logan rolled them over; thrusting harder and faster, pushing her deep into the mattress. With a final jerk of his hips his body shuddered and he collapsed on top of her. They lay there panting and sated while they waited for their heart rates to slow. His mouth covered hers in a gentle kiss. "Is the baby gate up?"

Veronica blinked. She heard his question, but she was having a hard time processing the words. "Uh…I think so." He smiled before lowering his head and giving her another long, unyielding kiss. Finally, he rolled away and got out of bed, searching the sheets for his boxers. He gave up on the search and pulled a clean pair of sweatpants from the dresser. "Where are you going?"

"To get our daughter."

"Right, Wyatt, baby gate." His answering smile was smug and she threw a pillow at him, which he caught and tossed back on the bed. They'd turned Wyatt's crib into a toddler bed, but to keep her from wandering out of her baby-safe room during the night, they kept a baby gate across her door. It was only a matter of minutes before their daughter's tiny feet would hit the floor on the other side of that gate and be running into the kitchen looking for breakfast, but Veronica didn't want to get up. She rolled over and buried her face in Logan's pillow, inhaling his scent.

He'd left the bedroom door open and their hallway conversation made its way to her. "Morning jellybean; ready for breakfast?"

"Up Daddy," there was the rattle of the gate as he lifted her over it, "where Mama?"

"She's still sleeping."

"No."

A soft chuckle from Logan, "you're right she's _awake_, but she's still in bed."

"Me go get." There were some days where she was perfectly content having Daddy all to herself and she wanted him to do everything; _no Daddy do_, but there were times when all she wanted was Veronica. Apparently now was one of them. She ducked under the covers, found her underwear and tugged them on just in time for Wyatt's arrival on their bed. "Mama," she wrapped her arms around Veronica and buried her face in her chest with a sigh.

"Good morning sweet pea," she snuggled her closer and showered kisses on top of her head. Mornings were the best. Wyatt was still sleepy enough to let Veronica hold her really tight without squirming away in her constant desire to be exploring everything and anything.

"I want to cuddle too."

"Okay Daddy," Wyatt patted the mattress next to them, "you too."

Logan joined them on the bed and gathered them both in his arms, "perfection." His eyes were closed; features relaxed and a content smile on his face. _Serene_. There was no denying she loved all the parts that went into making him Logan, but this was a side of him she never would've believed possible. Some of it was the security of her not running, of her standing still long enough to let him love her, but most of it was because of Wyatt. For the first time in his life he had someone who loved him unconditionally and who he loved the same way, without limit or boundaries.

"No cry Mama."

His eyes popped open and searched her face, "Mommy's just happy jellybean."

"She's also hungry." Twin stares; one blue, the other brown and matching grins, but his was more mocking. "Pregnant remember?"

"And what's your excuse for all the other times?"

"You're just jealous that all this," she ran her hands slowly over her body and his gaze darkened, "comes naturally. While you have to work for all that," she pointed to the chiseled chest and washboard abs. "Now who wants French toast?"

"Me!" Wyatt scrambled over Logan and off the bed with Veronica right behind her.

He sighed, "what I want is to stay in bed all day."

Pausing on her way from the room, she leaned against the doorjamb. "Do you want me to call Duncan and cancel? Because I will." The two important messages from Duncan on Monday were about their plans for today. Celeste was having some kind of _thing_ tonight, which required the presence of both Duncan and Laurel so he wanted to change their dinner to a lunch with an afternoon at Belmont Park. Logan said it was fine, but he didn't _look_ fine.

"No; Wyatt's looking forward to the carousel and I promised her mini-golf and ice cream."

"We can do those things on our own."

He shook his head, climbed out of bed and then made it with precision. _You can take the man out of the Navy, but you can't take the Navy out of the man_. Logan often joked that a considerable amount of recruit training involved learning nothing but how to wear your uniform, iron your uniform, fold your uniform and stow your uniform, which was immediately followed by how to make your bed and then how to make your bed again and, if you were lucky, how to make it again. "Go cook breakfast Veronica."

"Sir, yes, sir." She saluted him and he laughed.

"We don't have time to play recruit and commander right now," he leered at her, "but maybe later? I can make you drop and give me…"

"Twenty?"

"I was thinking of something dirtier."

Veronica smiled, "I know, _sir_." She gave him another salute, did an about-face and marched down the hall. The kitchen was empty. "Wyatt?" Giggles from inside lured her into the living room. She was very good at hiding, but not so good at keeping quiet or staying hidden. "Hmm, I wonder where she went." More laughter from behind the sofa gave away her position. She liked it when Veronica pretended to look for her in things and places she couldn't possibly be, "is she inside this cup? No. What about behind…this painting? Nope. Is she in the television?" Veronica knocked on the screen. In the reflection of the television she could see Wyatt peering around the corner of the sofa and she quickly turned around, "there she is."

She started running down the hall laughing and Veronica gave chase. Logan caught her and spun her in the air. "Are you looking for this tiny one here?"

"I am and I believe she was in store for some…tickle time."

"Roger that." He disappeared into the bedroom to mess up that finely made bed with tickle time. To the sounds of her delighted squeals and his baritone laughter, Veronica started breakfast. They were going to meet Duncan and Laurel at eleven when the park opened and then have lunch at the WaveHouse Beach Club. Wyatt might be looking forward to the carousel, but _Logan_ wanted to check out the Flow Barrel; a ten foot wave machine with a perfect tubing wave.

While the thick slices of bread soaked in a mixture of eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt, she called Mac. "You remember that I'm childless right, which means I don't have to be up this early on a Saturday."

She grinned, "and yet you are."

"Because I'm on my way into work."

"Well your boss wants you to play hooky with her today." It was probably a dumb plan, but the addition of Mac to their day might help relieve some of the tension she could already see forming between the three of them.

"You aren't my boss for the day; I'm on my way to Kane Software."

Veronica frowned, "on a Saturday?"

"Says the original workaholic."

"_Recovering_ workaholic." She melted butter in the frying pan. "Is Lisa going in to work with you?"

"She's picking me up." So far her father had been right. The only thing Mac was doing was writing code and eating lunch with one of the other programmers, Nigel. Lisa went into work with her every morning and Keith was picking her up at night while Lisa stayed behind to shred the day's paper. "I would much rather be spending the day with you."

"Liar." Mac was enjoying her work on this project; _a little too much if you ask me_. "Wyatt will miss you."

"Now you're just playing dirty."

"Eh, you call it dirty; I call it bribing with cuteness."

"Lisa's here; tell the munchkin I'll come see her tomorrow; not you, her."

Veronica smiled. "I'll be here too you know; in case you forgot, I live here."

"Fine I'll _see_ you, but I won't _talk_ to you and I'll be there for lunch so make something good… on second thought, have Logan cook."

"You're so funny…not." She hung up the phone and finished frying the French toast. "Breakfast's ready." Wyatt was dressed in faded denim overalls with white polka dots, a pink long-sleeved tee shirt and her white and pink sneakers. Logan had put her hair in pigtails and tied each with a pink bow. Veronica put the syrup away and sprinkled the French toast with powdered sugar. _Easier clean up_. "Where's Daddy?"

"Chower." Veronica started to lift her into her booster chair and she vehemently shook her head, "me do." Using her foot to steady the chair, she let Wyatt climb into her booster seat on her own. _My dad was right again; it all goes by too fast_. After putting Logan's plate in the warming drawer, she joined Wyatt at the table to eat her own breakfast.

"Did you have fun with Nana Dot this week?" An exaggerated nod before she launched into her story about the tide pools; _me saw cwabs_. It was clearly the highlight of her week since it was all she wanted to talk about after they went on Tuesday. "What else did you see?"

"Tea lug." _Sea slug_. Their day of flying on Monday was about Logan finding a plane to teach others, which he deemed _perfectly safe_ for Wyatt. Tuesday he went to fly fighter jets. Jake knew the pilots at a company in LA where you could fly in an L-39 Albatross and he worked it out for Logan to take it up on his own. Veronica frowned. _Only four months and he's missing it_. "No sad face."

"Who has a sad face and why?"

"Mama," Wyatt pointed at Veronica. _Thanks for throwing me under the bus kid_. She smiled and turned to Logan. His narrowed gaze and cynical smirk said he didn't believe the forced smile.

"I left your breakfast in the oven." She stood on her toes, delivered a hasty peck on his jaw and scurried out of the room, "going to get ready."

Veronica lingered in the shower hoping that by the time she returned to the kitchen all talk of her _sad face_ would be forgotten. Donning a pair of black leggings and a red empire-waist babydoll top, which definitely made her look more pregnant than she was, she slipped on a pair of sneakers and went to get her family. "Ready to go?"

Logan studied her appearance like she was an exhibit in a museum. "Why the rush?" He smirked, "are you hungry again?"

"It's not me; it's Ethan."

"_Hayley_ is the size of an avocado and I'm pretty sure it's Mommy who wants to eat." He draped his arms around her middle and used his palms to smooth down her shirt outlining the tiny bump.

"I'm telling you it's a boy this time."

"Nope," he kissed her neck, "it's another girl." Logan dropped his arms and went to collect Wyatt. "Let's go jellybean."

Veronica promised she wouldn't be one of those parents who only listened to children's music; unfortunately, Logan made no such promise and their car ride was filled with the not-so-dulcet sounds of such classics as _The Wheels on the Bus_ and _Monkeys on the Bed_. The only thing that made it bearable was hearing Wyatt sing along _and_ finding out that Logan knew all the words. She grinned. "Is this Wyatt's CD or yours?"

"Mine. I really like if you're happy and you know it kiss your wife." He put the car in park and leaned over the center console to kiss her. It started as sweet as his words, but quickly escalated. _If Wyatt wasn't in the backseat we would be_. Reluctantly, he pulled away from her, "is it too late to go home?"

Without waiting for an answer, he got out of the car. He got the stroller and diaper bag from the trunk before taking Wyatt out of her car seat. She eyed the stroller like it was a straightjacket, "me walk."

Logan looked at the crowd and back to their very small daughter. Veronica knew he was about to protest and interrupted him, "fine, but you have to hold my hand." He didn't argue, but he wasn't happy and he didn't return the stroller to the trunk.

Duncan and Laurel were waiting for them at the entrance to Tiki Town Adventure Golf. She could see the resemblance to Meg; the downturned brown eyes, the heart-shaped face and the long blonde hair, but her sullen expression was all Duncan. "Laurel this is Logan and Veronica." She just stared at them.

"It's nice to meet you Laurel."

A slight nod at Veronica's words and then her gaze moved to Logan who remained silent. "So what am I supposed to call you guys anyway?"

He shrugged, "Logan and Veronica works for me."

Wyatt was staring at the Giant Dipper with a mixture of fear and amazement. Veronica turned her around, "this is Wyatt."

A wide smile crossed Laurel's face, _Meg's smile._ She dropped to her knees so they were at eye level, "hey Wyatt, cool name; I'm Laurel."

Wyatt's face scrunched up as she tried to figure out how to say it. She gave up on the beginning part and settled for, "ell."

"Close enough," she took Wyatt's hand and they started to head inside.

A bemused chuckle from Duncan, "I guess we're going in."

Logan took out his wallet and paid for everyone, "okay jellybean what color do you want to be?"

"Boo." He gave her the blue golf club and ball and then turned to Laurel who selected purple.

Logan looked at Veronica, smirk firmly in place. "Gee, I don't know if they make a club short enough for you."

She rolled her eyes, "just be prepared to lose Echolls."

"Can we bet on that?" There was no mistaking the glint in his eyes.

"Sure. If you win; I'll…" she batted her eyes at him, "drop and give you _twenty_." It took him no time at all to remember their earlier conversation; his grin was almost as dirty as her inflection on the word twenty. "But since you're not going to win, what do I get?"

He waggled his eyebrows, "I'll drop and give _you_ twenty."

"I don't know…I think I'd rather have ice cream." His mouth dropped open and she bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I'll keep score so you can't cheat."

Logan plucked the paper out of her hands, "we'll let Duncan keep score." He passed the paper and pencil to Duncan who was watching them with a baffled expression.

While the words were innocent, the suggestive tone was hard to miss and Duncan wasn't stupid so his dazed appearance probably had more to do with them as a couple. Again she could almost hear Lilly; _clue in Donut, they're married and have sex…probably great sex. _Veronica turned away before they saw her smile. Apparently, one afternoon at their house wasn't enough for the idea of "Logan and Veronica" to fully penetrate. She frowned. _What exactly was Duncan hoping to find when he came home?_


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

For the first four holes, Wyatt let Logan "help" her play, but by the fifth hole she wanted to do it by herself, _me do_, and Veronica knew they were in trouble. Fourteen more greens with a very persistent toddler and they were going to be eating lunch for dinner. Rummaging through the diaper bag, she found a package of Goldfish crackers to munch.

She'd given up counting swings and finished all the crackers by the time the blue ball finally made it into the cup. Wyatt squatted next to the hole and peered inside; a wide grin split her face and she shouted, "bee zee Daddy!"

Logan threw his head back and laughed, "BZ bean." Veronica gave him a puzzled look. "Bravo Zulu; it means well done and Bean is her callsign." He shrugged, "Jake wanted to name her Rider, but…"

Wyatt cut him off and pointed to her chest, "me bean." They smiled at each other over the top of their daughter's head.

"Get your ball jellybean." While she was busy digging her ball out of the hole, Logan leaned over and whispered something to Duncan that Veronica couldn't hear. He nodded in agreement and motioned for Laurel, "we're gonna go this way." Instead of moving toward the next hole, the two of them started walking in the other direction.

Logan picked up Wyatt and took Veronica's hand. She immediately understood his plan, but she wasn't sure it was going to work. It was a small course and some of the greens were crammed together so it was easy to see they were skipping over a few. Already Wyatt was staring over his shoulder with a frown on her face. "I don't think you're gonna get away with this."

"It's either this or we'll be here until closing." He put Wyatt down and she took off back the way they came. It was tough to pull a fast one on their daughter. Veronica ducked her head so he wouldn't see her grin. "You're a big help," he muttered as he chased after the baby, "we have to go this way Wyatt."

"No." She stood her ground; chin tilted in defiance. It was a posture Veronica recognized as one of her own and the quick glance she received from Logan said he did too.

"Okay," He shrugged, "you stay here, but _I'm_ going to finish playing and then ride the carousel." He started to turn away and paused, "are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Uncertainty crossed her face. When she didn't move, he shrugged again and started walking back to the green.

He didn't get more than a few steps before she was running after him, the rest of the course forgotten about, "up Daddy." He swung her in the air, gave her kisses and set her down next to Veronica.

"Now I believe it's my turn. Watch and learn Mars." He teed up the ball, took his swing and made a hole-in-one. "And that's how you play."

Veronica rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure you're still going to be buying me ice cream." She pulled another package of Goldfish from the diaper bag.

Logan frowned, "I'll be right back."

"We'll still be here," she bent her head in Wyatt's direction. It wasn't her turn, but she was playing anyway. She hit the ball hard enough to send it skittering off the green into the fake tropical plants along the side.

Logan grinned as she trudged through the plants looking for her ball. Once she found it, he turned to Duncan. "D, I'm counting on you to make sure my wife doesn't cheat."

"Please; like I need to cheat to beat you," she called after his retreating back. "Is he really in the lead?"

"Yeah, by four strokes; it looks like no ice cream for you." The words _no ice cream_ made Wyatt pout and Duncan laughed. "She's _definitely_ your daughter."

Veronica made almost the same pout, which made him laugh harder and she turned away. "So Laurel how do you like Neptune?"

"It's okay."

"Have you started school yet?"

"Uh-huh." She was back to being quiet and moody. Everything was _it's okay _or muttered _uh-huhs_ with an occasional _no_. She didn't know if this was just her or if this was standard twelve-year-old girl forced to spend an afternoon with boring grownups. _At least she's being nice to my daughter_. In sync with the thought, Laurel leaned over Wyatt, helping her putt the golf ball. When it landed in the hole, she gave her a high five, "BZ Bean."

Veronica smiled. "Any luck finding a house?"

"There was one but," Duncan shrugged, "Celeste wanted us closer." At the mention of her grandmother, Laurel rolled her eyes. _I think I might like this kid_. "There's really no rush; we've only been here a couple of weeks and the room service at the Grand has vastly improved."

"Oh, are they _finally_ importing their caviar now?" Her words dripped with haughty disdain, "serving the _domestic_ stuff was just so gauche." It was her best Celeste impersonation and Laurel snorted with laughter. Veronica used the break in her sullen attitude to try some more conversation, "do you surf?"

She nodded, "I started when I was five." _And we've progressed to full sentences_. Veronica gave herself a silent _Bravo Zulu_.

A proud smile from Duncan, "she's really good too."

"Logan can't wait to teach Wyatt; he's already bought her a board." She didn't mention that he bought the board _before_ she was even born.

"Well hopefully her lessons will go better than yours did."

There wasn't even a snappy comeback she could make because it was true, she was a horrible surfer. "I _was_ a very graceful faller."

Veronica could practically hear the smirk in Logan's voice as he walked up behind her, "yeah if getting whacked in the head with your board is considered _graceful_."

She turned, prepared with a '_maybe if I had a better teacher' _dig, but let it slide when she saw what he was carrying; large French fries, a hot-dog-on-a-stick and lemonade. He handed her the tray and she stared at the fries. "I don't suppose…"

"What, not enough?" At her annoyed expression, he laughed and pulled a handful of hot sauce packets from his pocket. Tears welled in her eyes; _I can't believe I'm crying because he remembered hot sauce_. This pregnancy was making her moods shift like sand; from annoyance to sappy Hallmark moment in the span of seconds. Logan kissed her nose, "hey there's no crying in mini-golf." Blinking away the unshed tears, she smiled at him. _And I'm back to happy_; she sighed.

"It's your turn Veronica."

She shook her head, "you guys play without me. I'm going to eat and let my husband pretend he won."

"Pretend huh?" Logan smirked, "don't think you're getting out of our bet that easy. A forfeit is still a loss and I plan on collecting my winnings."

"Yes sir." At her use of the word sir, a look of utter disbelief crossed Duncan's face, which made her chuckle. "Are you all good here?" Logan nodded and she pointed at Wyatt, "then you might want to get our daughter." She'd discarded her club and was trying to climb the fake rocks. He put his hands around her waist, lifted her off the rock and flew her through the air, gently setting her down on the green. As a distraction technique it worked for all of three seconds and Wyatt was back to the rocks _'gain Daddy_.

Veronica took her food outside to one of the benches on the boardwalk. It wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be, but it was strange. The three of them hadn't done anything together since…the only memory she could come up with was the aborted attempt to watch _The Big Lebowski_ before Kendall arrived for her _playdate_ with Logan and thinking about Kendall was _almost_ enough to make her lose her appetite. She added more hot sauce to her fries. When she looked up, Laurel was standing next to the bench. "Are you guys done already?"

"I don't want to play anymore." She stood watching the roller coaster for a few minutes and then sat on the bench. "Were you friends with my mother?"

Veronica glanced back at the golf course. Duncan and Logan were in the middle of a conversation while Wyatt was unsuccessfully trying to hit her ball. She didn't know if the two of them had even noticed Laurel was gone. "Does your dad know you're out here?"

"I'm not a baby."

"No you're not." Veronica finished her hot dog. "Yes, your mom and I were friends."

"What was she like?"

_God Duncan don't you ever talk to your daughter about Meg_. "She was…a good person." _That's trite, Veronica_. She tried again, "Your mom was my friend even when it wasn't the popular thing to do; she stood up for me and had the courage to do the right thing."

"Is that why you helped us run away?"

"I promised her I would." She held out her fries, "want some?" Laurel took a few that weren't covered in hot sauce. "You look like her."

"That's what Dad says." Her inflection said she didn't necessarily believe either of them was telling the truth. _Does she even know what Meg looked like?_ That thought made her sad. She glanced back at the course and Wyatt.

"I have some pictures of her if you want them." Laurel smiled and nodded. When Duncan came to the house, she'd asked him if the Mannings had gotten to see their granddaughter, but he hadn't answered the question. _Wouldn't they have shown her pictures of Meg?_ "Have you met your…Stewart and Rose yet?"

She shook her head, "I think my dad's scared…I did meet Aunt Lizzie." Another smile, "Celeste does _not_ like her." If there was any Lilly in her niece, Celeste's disapproval would immediately move Aunt Lizzie to the top of the_ 'people I like most'_ list.

"How long have you been in Neptune?" Earlier Duncan said it was only a couple of weeks, but he also said they had a Smartpaper prototype. She may not know anything about product development, but that still seemed fast. _Were the Soongs working on the project in Hong Kong first?_ If so then… _it's not your case Veronica_.

Laurel shrugged, "two weeks?"

Veronica was about to ask her if she'd made any friends at school and promptly clamped her mouth shut. _I am not turning into my dad_. She held out the last of her fries and Laurel took them. "Maybe your dad can bring you to my house one day after school? A little swimming, a barbecue? I can give you those pictures of your mom."

Before she could answer, Wyatt came running toward them. "Mama, pony!" She grabbed Veronica's hand and started tugging.

She glanced at Logan, "she means the carousel right? Not an actual pony."

"Would I buy her a pony without talking to you first?" He tried for a wounded expression, but the gleam in his eyes said they needed to have a long discussion about appropriate gifts preferably before she found hay in their living room. "Yes, the carousel Mom."

"What about you, ready to ride the Dipper?" Duncan waited expectantly, but Laurel didn't seem enthused by the idea. Her eyes moved to Veronica, then Logan and down to Wyatt.

Logan caught the look too, "why don't we all ride the carousel and then I'll go with you?" Laurel brightened at the suggestion and Duncan nodded in agreement.

One ride on the carousel turned into three rides and it was still difficult to get Wyatt to leave her pony. Veronica lured her away with the promise of a boat ride, which also prevented the crying that was sure to ensue when she found out she was too small to ride the roller coaster. "We'll meet you at the restaurant."

Logan waited until Wyatt was happily ensconced in her little boat and ringing the bell before going to join Duncan and Laurel. He gave her a quick kiss, "try to get a table close to the FlowBarrel."

"How old are you again?"

"Don't be grumpy. I'm sorry you're too short to ride the roller coaster, but I didn't make the rules." She glared at him and he grinned.

The ride was short and apparently not as enthralling as the carousel because Veronica had no trouble convincing her it was time to get lunch. When they got to the restaurant the hostess told her they couldn't be seated unless their entire party was present and it was at least an hour wait. She put their name on the list, but after fifteen minutes Wyatt started to get cranky and needed to be pacified with some graham crackers.

"What are you doing up here?" Logan sat on the bench next to them.

"There's a wait." She leaned her head on his arm and yawned. "How was the ride?"

Laurel shrugged, "it was okay." The snickers from the men said she found the ride more than _okay_ and a small smile teased her lips.

Wyatt curled up on Logan's lap and stuck her thumb in her mouth. It was the precursor to nap time and if they didn't get her food, she was going to fall asleep without lunch. "We may need to eat somewhere else."

"I'll go see what I can do."

He started to get up and Duncan waved him off, "I've got it."

It took him less time to get them a table than it took her to put their name on the wait list. _I wonder how much that cost_. Their table offered a pretty good view of the FlowBarrel and her guess on the tip amount automatically doubled. It was an actual picnic table. Logan sat on one side, Duncan on the other and suddenly it felt a little adversarial and familiar…_choose Veronica_. She shook off the thought, _all in my head_, and slid on the bench next to her husband.

Wyatt tugged on Logan's arm and pointed to the wave pool, "wimming?" She looked confused by the rushing water and constant wave. To her, all bodies of water bigger than the bathtub were meant for swimming.

"No that's for surfing, look." A rider entered the pool on a board and Wyatt's eyes widened. She stood on the bench for a better view. Logan loosely wrapped his arm around her middle to make sure she didn't fall and turned to Duncan, "after lunch?"

"Uh, yeah." He nudged Laurel's shoulder, "what about you? Do you want to try it?" Her answering expression said, _duh_.

"So why aren't you at work with the rest of the team?" Duncan frowned. "I asked Mac to join us today and she said she had to work."

"Wasn't me," he shrugged, "maybe Jim needed her for something. You know…" he teased, "I may have to try stealing her away from Mars Investigations."

"Good luck with that; Mac loves me." When the waitress arrived, Veronica let everyone else order first and then asked for the chipotle chicken sandwich with extra chipotle sauce, an order of nachos with additional jalapenos on the side and truffle fries. "Oh and a bottle of hot sauce please."

Duncan chuckled, "you're right she's a veritable eating machine."

"_She_ is sitting right here and can hear you." Logan kissed her temple. In the two seconds it took him to do that, Wyatt ducked out from his restraining hand and slid off the bench to get closer to the water. She started to push her way through the gathering crowd and he bounded out of his seat after her.

"They're fast at that age."

Veronica nodded while her eyes followed the progress of Logan's head through the crowd. She lost sight of him and stood for a better view. He reappeared and returned to the table with an unhappy toddler tucked under his arm. This time he put her on the bench in between the two of them so she couldn't escape again, but she also couldn't see the pool anymore and her pout clearly told him what she thought of this plan. Logan frowned at her, "no running off like that. You scared Daddy."

Her pout disappeared and she patted his arm like she was reassuring him that she was safe. He had to fight to hide his smile. Tilting her head back, Wyatt whispered, "too tall." It had taken them a few frustrating weeks to figure out what she wanted when she used that phrase, but it soon became one of Logan's favorites because it meant he was too far away and she wanted him closer. He lowered his head and she pressed her hands against his cheeks before giving him a kiss.

"We'll go see the pool after lunch." Wyatt rewarded his words with a big smile and Veronica smirked. It was amazing how someone so small could wield such power over someone so big. He caught her look, "yeah I know, but I'm totally okay with it."

Their food arrived sparing him from her _big softie_ observation. She cut up Wyatt's chicken strips, put some of her fries on the plate and moved the chocolate milk out of sight until some food was eaten.

"Do you guys keep in touch with anyone else from high school?"

Veronica said, "Wallace," at the same time Logan said, "Dick." Then in unison they added, "Weevil."

Duncan smiled, "Wallace and Mac aren't surprising, but _Dick_ and _Weevil_?"

"We tried using small words and pictures to make them go away," Logan smirked, "but they just didn't get it. We're gonna try hand puppets next."

She rolled her eyes, "Weevil's a mechanic and has his own shop. He's got a daughter, Valentina; she'll be seven this year and Dick is," she paused for dramatic effect, "a chef."

"No way. Are we talking about the same Dick? The one whose biggest ambition in life was drinking and getting…" He fell silent, his eyes darting to his daughter.

Logan nodded, "he owns six restaurants."

Duncan shook his head in disbelief, "wow…what about his brother? Beaver right?" A pall fell over the table and from his frown, Duncan didn't know why.

"Dude, you're really behind on your current events; Miss Dent would be very disappointed." His failed attempt at levity didn't lighten the mood, but it did steer the conversation away from Beaver.

"At first I tried to find out what was going on in Neptune. Clarence would send me the Register and give me updates when we spoke, but then I made him stop. It was too hard to hear what was happening and know that I…"

"I get it; you have to let go of the past in order to move on, become someone different." There was a resigned sadness in Logan's voice and she knew he was thinking about himself; Veronica rubbed his shoulder. He took her hand from his shoulder and kissed her fingers. "Have you seen anyone else since you've been back?"

"Angie Dahl; she's the attorney my mother hired to help me with," he tilted his head toward Laurel, "Stanford Law, top of her class." His fake perkiness made Veronica smile. "I think the Sinclairs will be at Celeste's shindig later."

"I'm guessing our invitation got lost in the mail?"

"There _is_ a God," Logan mumbled. He ate his last fry, "are we ready to hit the waves?" All three of them were prepared with bathing suits under their clothes. Duncan settled the check while Veronica put a sleepy Wyatt in her stroller and they made their way to the FlowBarrel. The presence of the carriage helped part the crowd and she got close enough to the glass for Wyatt to see. All the white chairs were occupied until Logan got annoyed and shamed someone into giving up their seat. "Think you could get up and let my pregnant wife sit down?"

"Logan, it's okay; I'm fine…" He just gave her a look and waited for the teenager to vacate the chair. The kid mumbled something, which Veronica chose to believe was _sure man_, but sounded very close to _fuck you_ and she was positive he wasn't going to move until his mother pinched his arm. She smiled at the woman and glared at Logan before sitting down. He blew her a kiss and went to join Duncan. "Ready to watch Daddy surf sweet pea?"

Wyatt pointed to the water, "me do?" It was almost the same way she stared at the roller coaster, only less fear and more excitement.

Veronica smiled, "when you get a little bigger." Unsure if the comment deserved a pout since it wasn't an absolute _no_, she stuck her thumb in her mouth and went back to watching.

Laurel went first. The board wasn't big enough to be considered a surfboard, more like a skateboard and it had foot straps. While they resembled ocean waves, the sheet wave didn't actually move forward; riders gained speed by the power of the water rushing toward them. She did pretty well and Veronica was impressed. _At least she can stand up; I would've tumbled ass over teakettle_. Logan was even more impressive coasting in and out of the tube, then riding to the top of the wave and achieving air. Wyatt clapped, pointed and proudly announced to everyone around her, "me Daddy."

When he was done, Veronica heard Laurel tell him, "BZ Logan," and the two of them high-fived, grinning like idiots; _kids_.

Before Duncan took his turn, Logan nodded toward the carriage, "we're gonna take off man; it's past her naptime."

"Call me; we'll go surfing for real later this week…and bring Dick."

It was a very abrupt departure and she could tell from the way Logan was watching the water that he wanted to go again. "We can stay if you want. She'll be fine falling asleep in her carriage."

"I meant it was past _your_ naptime." He kissed her nose, "don't think I missed all the yawning and the sleepy eyes."

"You're just in a rush to get me in bed."

"Always."

She shook her head, "you need a new hobby."

"But I'm so good at the first one." He started pushing the stroller toward the car, "and it's not a hobby. I took your advice and went pro."

"I wondered where all the extra money was coming from. Any endorsement deals yet? Trojan perhaps; maybe KY or…"

"Veronica we're in a family park."

She grinned, "you started it." It was fun when she found a way to make _him_ blush for a change since he was so good at doing it to her. She strapped Wyatt into her car seat while he loaded the stroller and diaper bag. The baby was asleep before they even pulled out of the parking lot. "After all the excitement today, she'll probably be down for a couple of hours; however, shall we entertain ourselves?"

"Scrabble?"

She let her hand trail up his leg, "okay. How much will I score with the word swallow?"

"It is a seven-letter word so," he glanced at her, "bonus points."

"I _love_ bonus points."

When they pulled into the driveway, their teasing mood quickly evaporated. Her father and Dottie were waiting for them on the front porch wearing grim expressions. Dread weighed her down making it difficult to move. _If I stay in the car it won't be true_. Logan opened her door and she shook her head. Keith abandoned the porch. Her eyes followed him as he slowly walked down the driveway and squatted next to her seat. Taking her hand in his, he waited for her to look at him. "There was an accident honey. Mac and Lisa were leaving Kane Software when…"

"Are they dead?"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

Keith's expression was one she'd seen several times throughout her childhood when he was a cop. She called it his _notification face_; compassionate and understanding with an appropriate amount of sorrow, but it also exuded a measure of grit. It was the perfect balance between _this hurts me_ and _I'm going to get justice for you_. Veronica imagined it was the way he looked when he arrived on the doorstep to tell families their loved ones wouldn't be coming home. She pulled her hand from his grasp and repeated her question, "are they dead?"

"Lisa died at the scene, but Mac is in the hospital." He spoke softly; the harsh words said as gently as possible, "she's in surgery, honey."

She raised her face to Logan. He was gripping the edge of the door so tightly his hand was white; all the blood pooling to the tips of his fingers, making them blotchy and red. "I want to go there now."

He nodded once and then glanced in the backseat. She followed his gaze to Wyatt who was still sleeping soundly in her carseat. They couldn't bring their daughter to the hospital with them.

Keith, understanding the silent conversation, said, "Dottie offered to watch Wyatt while I go to the hospital with you."

"Not you, just Logan." Both of them stared at her as if they'd misheard what she said and Veronica turned away. She _knew _it was a bad idea for Mac to work at Kane Software, _told_ him she didn't like it, but he'd insisted. _She'll be fine honey; don't worry_.

There was a resigned sigh from Keith and then Logan was leaning into the car. He brushed his hand across her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm just going to bring Wyatt inside and then we'll go. Do you need anything?"

_I need Mac to be okay_. Not trusting herself to speak without completely falling apart, she shook her head and resolutely stared at the dashboard. The backdoor opened and he lifted Wyatt out of her seat. "Wait, I want…" Logan crouched down next to her. The baby was nestled against him, one tiny hand splayed across his chest. Veronica leaned forward, kissed her fingers and gently stroked her head. "Hurry."

He nodded and stood. Veronica watched him carry Wyatt into the house followed by Dottie and Keith. It didn't take him long. When he returned, he was back in jeans and tee and he was alone. Starting the car, he pulled out of the driveway and took her hand. She appreciated his lack of _Mac will be okay_ platitudes because they both knew from personal experience that those words were empty and devoid of meaning.

Despite what her father called it, there was no way this wasn't intentional. This had something to do with Mac working at Kane Software. _Every time the Kanes come into contact with my life it turns to shit_. "This wasn't an accident."

"Okay." Her gaze narrowed and she studied his profile trying to decide if he was placating the upset pregnant woman or if he was really agreeing with her. Feeling her stare, he glanced in her direction. "I trust you Veronica. I trust your instincts. If you say it wasn't an accident, then it wasn't." He gave her hand a squeeze.

The medical center was one of only two hospitals in the entire county with a level one trauma center and she was getting tired of seeing it. To save time, Logan bypassed the entrance to the parking garage and pulled up to the valet stand at the main door. "Where do we go?"

"Second floor; surgical ICU," he didn't let go of her hand as they cut across the main lobby to the elevators. When the doors slid open, he led her through the maze of hallways without one misstep or wrong turn. It was a little unnerving that he'd been here, _they'd_ been here, often enough to know the way.

Dick jumped out of his seat and was pulling her into a hug before the waiting room doors closed behind them. "They're still operating on her, Ronnie."

"She needs to breathe Dick." Logan's words made him loosen his grip and put her back on the ground, but he didn't let her go. "Has the doctor been out with an update?"

Dick shook his head and released her. The waiting room was empty except for them and Mac's family. At the sight of Veronica, Natalie's composure cracked and she buried her face in Sam's arm; her muffled cries making her shoulders shake. Ryan, turned helpless, red-rimmed eyes toward them and held out his hand. "I should go talk to them."

She forced her feet in that direction. The waiting room was a muted shade of blue. Studies showed blue was supposed to make you feel peaceful and calm, but it wasn't working for her; she was the complete opposite of calm. Logan rested his hand against the small of her back and she was acutely grateful for his presence.

The blue visitor chairs were grouped around small tables in sets of four. The Mackenzies were around the table by the window. Natalie and Sam had pulled their chairs close together and Ryan was across from them. Veronica's eyes wandered to the flat-panel television on the wall next to them. It was hung high and tilted down so you could see it from the chairs. Someone had turned off the volume, but a pretty blonde newscaster was trying to look somber while pictures of fires raging through Southern California flashed on the screen behind her. She was no good at this and had no idea what to say to them.

Sam squeezed his wife's shoulders before looking up, "thank you both for coming."

Logan nodded, "do you need anything? Food? Coffee?"

"Cindy's," his voice shook on her name and he took a deep breath, "Cindy's friend, Wallace, went to get everyone coffee."

Natalie lifted her head, locked her eyes on Veronica's face and with a steely resolve said, "she's going to be okay."

Veronica nodded in agreement, "of course she is." The lie stuck in her throat, but what was she supposed to say? _We don't know that for sure_ or _I hope so_.

Logan was just as uncomfortable as she was. She could feel his tension in the hand pressed against her spine, but outwardly he was ramrod straight and completely still. _Military training_. He turned to Ryan, "what have the doctors said?"

"Her sternum and ribs were fractured by the seatbelt. One of her ribs punctured her lung and there's…" He bowed his blond head for a minute and then raised his face to continue, "there's swelling on her brain…"

"A subdural hematoma is what they called it," Sam interjected and took over the explanation. "They're doing a craniotomy to reduce the pressure and the surgeon said it will be a few hours before they can come update us."

Natalie clutched her hand. "Do I…should I call _them_?" Veronica knew who she meant, but was surprised that Natalie would ask her opinion considering she was the reason Mac knew about the Sinclairs in the first place.

She gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "_you're_ her family; not them."

"Thank you," Natalie seemed relieved by the reassurance. "Cindy always tells me you're the person to see if I ever need help… she loves you, you know."

"I love her too." The tears she'd been trying to keep at bay streamed down her face. Logan must have heard them in her voice because he pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair.

"Come on let's go sit down." He slow walked them across the room to one of the couches against the wall. Lowering her onto the sofa, he sat next to her, keeping her pinned to his side. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No…just stay with me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Dick was slumped in one of the chairs, his head back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. He didn't look good. She didn't know if their relationship was in the on-stage or off-stage right now, but either way she knew he cared about Mac and he'd been here by himself this entire time. "Go talk to Dick."

Logan smiled at her, "aren't you the one who just said stay with me?"

"A girl has a right to change her mind." He didn't move. "Seriously it's eight feet away, you'll still be able to see me." Reluctantly, he got up and went to sit next to Dick.

When her dad said there was an accident, her mind automatically supplied the word car to the sentence and Ryan talking about seatbelt injuries confirmed her assumption, but she needed more information. She didn't want to question the Mackenzies. Even if they knew how the accident happened, making them describe it to her seemed cruel. Veronica reached for her purse and realized she didn't have it with her. She'd put her things in the diaper bag, which was currently back at the house. Leaving her seat, she went to Logan. "Can I borrow your cell?"

He stretched, twisting his body sideways for access to his pocket and pulled out the phone. "Who are you calling?"

"Norris."

Dick's head jerked up and his eyes narrowed in suspicion, "why?"

It was easy to write Dick off as the same dumb, _entitled_ rich boy that he used to be, especially since he had no problem continuing to play that role. He was okay with people underestimating him, but Veronica knew there were more layers than _Surfer Dude_. She'd seen them; first, when he saved her and Wyatt after the shooting and again when she read Logan's journal. They still had a long way to go before she would consider them friends, but she definitely knew he wasn't stupid. "I want to ask him about the investigation."

"You don't think it was an accident, do you?" His voice was getting louder and Veronica inclined her head toward the Mackenzies. Dick glanced over there and lowered the volume, "did somebody do this Ronnie? Did somebody hurt Mac on purpose?"

"That's what I want to know."

"I'll fucking kill them."

Ryan was staring at them. Logan put his hand on Dick's arm, "why don't we take this out in the hall?"

The door to the waiting room opened and Wallace came in balancing two trays of coffee and food. Both Dick and Logan got up to help him carry them inside. They brought them over to the Mackenzies and Wallace hugged Veronica. "I'm glad you're here."

She returned the embrace, "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

"Your dad didn't want to tell you over the phone; I thought it was a good call." He looked around the room, "where is he?"

"With Wyatt."

The short explanation didn't seem to satisfy him, "is he coming back?" Veronica shrugged. "Is everything okay?"

_Can I not keep secrets from anyone in my life anymore?_ "You mean other than our best friend undergoing surgery? Things are just peachy."

"You know you're going to tell me eventually so why not now?"

Veronica sighed, "I didn't want him to come. He's the one who sent her there and…"

Wallace shook his head, "nobody makes Mac do anything she doesn't want to do. Sort of like someone else we know…and have I mentioned how annoying it is?" She rolled her eyes at him. "So give me the real reason."

"I should've just turned down the case."

"You didn't know this was going to happen any more than your dad did. Mars Investigations takes plenty of cases…wait, are you saying this wasn't an accident?"

Instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own. "Do you know what happened?"

"Nothing too specific. They were on their way back to Mac's apartment when a car traveling in the opposite direction lost control and hit them. Lisa died on impact and they brought Mac here by helicopter."

"What about the other driver? Did he survive?"

He shrugged, "I don't know."

It still didn't feel right. She'd told Logan she was sure it wasn't an accident, but maybe she was looking for a mystery to solve to give her something to do since there wasn't anything else she could do for Mac. Veronica frowned at the phone in her hand. "I'm going to make some calls; I'll be back."

Wallace didn't try to stop her. Cell phones weren't allowed on the ICU floor so Veronica headed toward the elevators, but when she passed the desk, she stopped. "Excuse me. My sister, Cindy Mackenzie was involved in a car accident today. She's in surgery now, but I was wondering how the other driver is? The person who hit my sister and her friend."

"Do you have a name?" Veronica shook her head. The nurse flipped through the charts and then accessed a tablet computer. "I don't see any other patients from that accident; I'm sorry."

"Thanks." She continued to the elevator and called Norris. "How's my favorite deputy?"

"Considering nobody else here likes you; that's not saying much."

"Please, the Balboa County Sheriff's Department loves me. I mean come on, without me their closure rate would be zero." She hit the button for the lobby.

A loud sigh, "what do you want Veronica?"

"Can't a girl just call to chat? See how you're doing?"

"Sure they can, but you're not just a generic girl and you never call just to chat."

"That's true, I am pretty special." The elevator doors opened and she crossed the lobby.

"I was thinking of another word, but we'll go with special."

Veronica wanted to wait until she was out of the hospital before asking him questions about the accident just in case there was some errant Mackenzie family member loitering in the lobby. She exited the main doors and found herself back at the valet station. "My friend Mac was in a car accident today."

"The one out on Torrey Pines Road?"

"Maybe? A driver going in the opposite direction lost control and crashed into them. They were in a white Toyota Corolla."

"Your friend was in that accident?" His tone was cautious. She didn't know if it was because of Mac's involvement or if there was something more.

"She's in surgery now and Lisa," _was dead_. She'd been so busy focusing on Mac she hadn't even begun to process that piece of information. _Did my dad call her family?_ Veronica knew her brother lived in Washington, somewhere near Seattle, but her parents were local.

"Veronica are you okay?"

_No, not really_. The valet was off parking someone's car. She was sure he wouldn't mind if she used his chair for a minute. "Yeah, I'm okay. The driver of the Corolla, Lisa Watson, she was my…" _Employee? Friend?_ "What can you tell me about the accident? Was the other driver hurt?"

"I don't know. The other driver fled the scene." _No, that's not suspicious at all_. "There weren't a lot of witnesses; just a few people on the beach. One swears it was a Hummer, the other a Jeep Cherokee and the last one said it was a pickup truck with an extended cab. They all agree that it was red though, which matches the paint chips on the Corolla."

"Are you investigating?"

"A hit and run is a crime." Of course she knew a hit and run was a crime and because it involved injury it was a felony, but it was a wobbler, meaning the prosecutor could decide to charge it as a misdemeanor depending on the facts of the case. She didn't know if Norris was being purposefully obtuse or if that's all they considered this- a traffic violation.

"Was there anything…_suspicious_ about the accident?"

"What aren't you telling me Veronica?"

"I really don't know anything more than I'm telling you." _Yet_. "I just wanted to know if you suspected foul play." _That sounds like I'm in the middle of an Agatha Christie novel_.

"It was a bad accident. The red _truck_, for lack of a better description, pushed them into the guardrail with enough force to flip them over it and onto the pedestrian walkway. We've towed the car to impound and accident investigators have gone over the scene."

_That really doesn't answer my question_. "Will you let me know what they find when they inspect the car?"

"And I suppose you'd like copies of the reports?"

"It's like you're reading my mind." The valet was back and glaring at her. She vacated his seat and started inside.

"You know I'll give you whatever I can." He was silent for a minute. "Your friend, Mac? Is she the same Mac we went to high school with? The one who helped you figure out that wireless stuff for me?"

"Yes."

"How is she?"

Her eyes filled with tears again and she took a page from Natalie's book, "she's going to be okay," it lacked the same steely resolve. "I should really get back inside now."

"Call me? To let me know how she's doing?"

"I will." After disconnecting the call, she asked the woman at the main desk where the restrooms were. She needed a minute to herself before she went back to the waiting room. Nothing was supposed to happen to Mac, ever. She couldn't deal with it again; the loss of another friend. Not after Lilly and Meg and Piz. Veronica washed her face. _She's going to be okay_.

The waiting room was fuller when she returned. She didn't recognize most of the faces, but there was one that was familiar and Veronica was positive it was Lauren Sinclair. She hadn't seen her in years, not since…high school graduation maybe? Now that she was grown, it was easy to see the similarities between her and Mac; same hair and eye color, same round face. She turned to talk to the person next to her and Veronica felt that earlier anger at her dad find a new target- Duncan.

She stalked across the room, "what are you doing here?"

Lauren was startled. "I, um, I wanted to see how…"

"Not you, him." Veronica pointed at Duncan. "Why are you here?"

"The Sheriff came to the house to tell us about the accident. They had their Kane Software ID… I'm so sorry about Lisa." He started to put his hands on her shoulder.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"Veronica," Logan put his hand on her arm and she shrugged him off.

"I swear Duncan if you had anything to do with this; I'm going to make you pay. Not just for this, but for everything else you've gotten away with." Something about the way she said _everything else_ made Duncan glance at Logan. They exchanged a look and her husband nodded; _yes she knows, we both know_.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Last night's confrontation with Duncan wasn't loud enough for the entire waiting room to overhear, but it was still awkward for those in the immediate vicinity and before either she or Duncan could make it worse, Logan had interrupted with a _not here_ and pulled her away. The intervention pissed her off and she was getting ready to tell him _exactly_ what she thought of his interference when the doctor arrived with an update on Mac.

_Mac_. Veronica pushed away the thought and concentrated on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she was making; first slicing off the crusts and then cutting it into triangles. She put it in a baggie and added it to the growing pile of food. After peeling and coring a few apples, she sliced them into triangles too and put them in a storage container.

"What are you doing?"

"Packing lunch for the beach." She pulled cheese wedges from the fridge and took down a box of Triscuit thin crisps. "Can you get the cooler from the garage; I can't reach it."

"Veronica, it's five in the morning."

"Thanks Big Ben." She got a jar of salsa and tortilla chips from the pantry. Logan was still leaning in the doorway watching her. "Is that a no on the cooler then?" When he didn't respond, she went back to the pantry and got the step ladder.

Four long strides and he was standing in front of her taking away the ladder. "I will get your cooler, two hours from now when we wake up."

"I'm not going back to bed." When they got home from the hospital, Wyatt was already down for the night and Veronica pled exhaustion. Disappearing into the bedroom without saying anything to either her father or Dottie, she left Logan to explain the status of Mac's condition. _Medically induced coma to relieve the intracranial pressure and reduce the chances of brain damage_. She'd been repeating the same sentence to herself for the past seven hours while she tossed and turned and stared at the ceiling.

"Okay." After putting the ladder away, he went to get her cooler. "Can I ask why we're going to the beach?"

"When did I say _we_ were going to the beach?"

He eyed the huge collection of food on the counter. "That's true; you could eat all that by yourself." Logan shook the box of crackers. "Are you trying to learn your shapes too?"

She smiled. "No, those are for you… or do you think you need another week of circles?"

"They're the round things right?" He made a cup of coffee and held it out for her. When she hesitated, he said, "Doctor Villella said a small amount of caffeine is fine."

Veronica took the cup and watched as he made one for himself. "You don't have to stay up with me."

"We can be overtired and under-caffeinated together." His cup paused at his mouth and he stared at her over the rim. "But you know what that means don't you?"

She nodded, "total toddler domination."

"Do you think the damage will be limited to new storybooks or are we going to wake up with a puppy?"

"Tough call." She packed the soft cooler and put it on the top shelf of the fridge.

"I thought you'd want to go to the hospital today."

Veronica shook her head, "immediate family only. We'll stop there later." Sitting idle in the waiting room for periodic updates from Mac's parents would slowly drive her crazy. _Slowly? Who am I kidding? I would last an hour tops_.

"Why the beach?"

She shrugged. "We haven't seen Wyatt since lunch yesterday; I thought she'd like a day at the shore."

"You know, as a cover story that could use a little work."

_First Wallace and now Logan, I'm really losing my touch_. Worry over Mac wasn't the only thing keeping her awake last night; she was also thinking about this case and what it would mean for her and Logan. Veronica frowned. She was afraid they would resort back to their old habits, her withholding information and keeping secrets, him being overprotective and smothering. The fear was irrational. They'd already faced two major investigations together and they'd come through them just fine. _Why do I keep waiting for something to go wrong? _"Breakfast?"

He shook his head, "conversation first and then food."

"Keeping a pregnant woman from a spicy Southwestern frittata is cruel and unusual punishment." She dug chorizo, peppers, and Monterey Jack cheese from the fridge. "If you cook," Veronica held out the carton of eggs. "I'll talk."

Logan tapped her nose with his index finger. "You're too cute to resist." Taking the eggs, he put them on the counter and pulled down a bowl. Veronica headed for the table and he put out his arm to block her progress. "Hey now, where do you think you're going? A chef doesn't do his own prep work."

"That's it, no more cooking channel for you."

"Sorry, but I'm not giving up my Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." He handed her the peppers and a knife. "Get to dicing sous-chef."

She rolled her eyes and started cutting the bell pepper. When she was done, she moved on to the tomatoes. She'd promised him conversation in exchange for breakfast, but she didn't know where to start. "The…_accident_ happened on Torrey Pines Road by the beach."

"Which explains our day trip." Grabbing the grater from the cabinet, he started shredding the block of cheese. "What else did Norris tell you?"

"The driver fled the scene and witnesses couldn't identify the vehicle." She watched as Logan silently cooked the chorizo, staring at the frying pan with more concentration than she thought was necessary. _He's thinking of ways to get me not to investigate. _"I can't leave this alone so don't ask me to."

Still not looking at her, he transferred the sausage to a plate. "Maybe you should stop having conversations in your head with nineteen year old Logan." His sentence was slow and deliberate in that low warning tone she hated. It was the '_don't start a fight'_ voice.

"Is that what I'm doing? Because I thought I was _sharing_ with you." His mouth parted and he drew in a short puff of air before clamping his lips shut; holding in his words. Veronica sighed. She was so worried about them resorting back to their old ways and here she was doing it. _Self-fulfilling prophecy anyone?_

Logan turned off the stove and took a few steps away from her. "Are you still pissed about last night?"

She shook her head. In the moment she was mad, but he was right to pull her away from Duncan. The waiting room wasn't the place to have that conversation. "I'm worried."

"I know you're worried about Mac, but…"

"It's not just that." She turned away from him and started cracking the eggs into the mixing bowl. "I'm worried about _us_. First Duncan shows up, now this investigation and you being so unhappy and…"

"Whoa, backup a minute." He took the egg out of her hand and returned it to the carton. "Where did you get the idea that I was unhappy?"

"I know you miss the Navy; you're off flying jets everyday with Jake."

"Because he's on leave and …" Logan shook his head, "not important. I love my life Veronica, _our_ life. I don't miss the Navy and I'm not unhappy. Staying home with Wyatt was my choice and it was the right decision for me." He took her hands in his. "You have to stop this. You have to stop waiting for something to go wrong."

"This is us Logan; something usually _does_ go wrong."

"Only because we let it and we're not going to do that this time around." He wrapped his arms around her. "You're going to investigate and I'm going to worry while being helpful and supportive. And _you_…are not going to shut me out and pick fights with me before sunrise."

"Gee you make it sound so easy."

He chuckled. "Yeah, easy 'cause that's how we do things." He rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Were you this emotional when you were pregnant with Wyatt?"

"That sounded very patronizing."

"Ah, ah, ah, no picking fights before sunrise." Logan released her with a soft kiss to her forehead and returned his attention to breakfast. "So what's your plan Sherlock?"

"Undercover at Kane Software might not be an option, especially after last night. I don't think Duncan is going to want me anywhere near him or his project."

"I think you're underestimating your powers of persuasion." Turning around to face her, he leaned against the counter. "Do you really think Duncan is involved?"

"You don't?"

"He does have a pretty good alibi." He waved his arm toward her and then at himself.

"But we know Duncan doesn't do his own dirty work."

Logan nodded, "but this is different than the thing with Aaron, this…"

"Thing? You mean murder?" He arched a brow. They'd discussed it several times after she entered her unholy alliance with Clarence Wiedman and they'd agreed that Aaron got what he deserved. Neither of them was going to shed a tear over the death of Aaron Echolls. It was a surprisingly easy decision for her to make; letting go of trying to solve his murder and deciding it was justice. Logan concurred, especially after she told him that Aaron confessed to killing Lilly. "Okay, yes, this is different, but…"

Crying from the baby monitor interrupted her sentence and Logan frowned. Wyatt only woke up crying if she was scared or sick. "I'll go." He grabbed the monitor and disappeared down the hall.

Taking over the cooking of the frittata, she added the ingredients to the eggs and poured the mixture into a frying pan. Once they were almost set, she transferred the pan to the oven to bake them the rest of the way.

_Do you really think Duncan is involved?_ It didn't make sense for him to hire investigators and then try to have them killed. It wasn't like he was stealing his own invention. After all, Smartpaper belonged to Kane Software…she frowned, or did it? The _Soongs_ were the ones that came up with the idea. _Was there a patent? And, if so, who held it? _She reached for the phone to call Mac and then let her arm drop to her side.

_Mac_. The surgeon wasn't able to tell them how long they were going to keep her in the coma and he wouldn't know the extent of the trauma until she woke up. The only thing he said with any decisiveness was that the craniotomy was successful and they were able to _evacuate the acute subdural hematoma_. His fancy medical jargon made her instantly hate him.

"Tutu, Mama." Wyatt came running into the kitchen wearing her bathing suit and carrying a black tutu. She thrust the skirt at Veronica waiting for her to take it. "Tutu, Mama."

Veronica took it and looked at Logan for an explanation. He shrugged. "I may have mentioned the beach." That answered why their daughter was already dressed in her watermelon swimsuit, but not the return of the tutus; she waved it at him. "Someone," he pointed at Wyatt, "insists on wearing it."

Containing her sigh, she knelt on the floor and helped Wyatt wriggle into the tulle. As soon as it was on, she happily skipped into the living room. Veronica shook her head, "I thought we hid all of them."

"We did. Nana Dot decided to buy her a new one yesterday." For Christmas, Dick had bought Wyatt the book _Angelina Ballerina_ along with her very own pink tutu and she wouldn't take it off. She needed to wear the skirt over everything from jeans to pajamas. Aunt Mackie thought it was so adorable that she bought her an entire _collection_ of them in different colors. Eight weeks- all tutus, all the time. They were finally past that stage and now they were back. "Come on, it's cute."

She grinned. "Yeah, it is." Grabbing a potholder, she took the frittata out of the oven. It looked and smelled amazing. She was half-tempted to take a fork and eat it directly from the pan. "I don't think Wyatt's going to like this."

Logan smirked. "I bet the comments on your report card under sharing were- needs improvement."

"And yours were- does not play well with others."

He slipped his hands around her waist and nuzzled her neck. "I play _very well_ with others, thank you very much."

"Kissing all the girls during recess does not count as playing."

"We'll just have to agree to disagree." He kissed up her throat and nibbled on her ear. "Will you share your frittata with me?"

"How can you make eggs sound dirty?"

"Talent." There was a slight uptick in the corner of his mouth. "It's all in the inflection."

Veronica rolled her eyes while she dished out the frittata for them and Logan made farina with raisins for the baby. After putting breakfast on the table, she went to collect Wyatt. Ten minutes alone and it looked like a toy tornado blew through the living room. She'd dumped her wooden blocks, Duplos, and Lincoln Logs in the middle of the floor and was in the process of building a very strange…_something_. "Time for breakfast Wy."

"No."

The technical term for the endless use of the word _no_ was toddler refusal, but all the child development theories they taught in her psych classes didn't really prepare her for hearing it thirty times a day from her own child. "Daddy made you farina." Wyatt didn't budge. "If we don't eat breakfast, we can't go to the beach." That got her attention. She looked at Veronica and then back at her blocks trying to decide. "We can bring your blocks to the beach." Negotiations complete; Wyatt abandoned the floor and returned to the kitchen.

It took a long time for her to eat and even longer to convince her that it was too cold to wear only her bathing suit. Veronica decided to hold back the _too cold to go swimming_ news until they were actually _on_ the beach. _I'll let Logan tell her since he let her put on the bathing suit. _Rushing through her shower, she got dressed and put an empty memory card in her camera.

Logan and Wyatt were waiting for her by the front door. She was clutching her barrel of blocks and he was carrying towels. Veronica frowned at the towels. A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips and he shook his head. "I'm wise to your plan and I'm not telling her."

"Chicken," she grumbled. Picking up Wyatt and her blocks, Veronica left him to lock up the house. "I want to start out at Kane Software."

He took the 5 north and got off at exit twenty-nine for Genesee Avenue, which turned into North Torrey Pines. As they approached Callan Road, he asked, "Do you want me to make the turn or keep going straight?"

There was no need to start from the actual building. Lisa and Mac would have come down Torreyana, made the left on Callan and then turned onto this road directly in front of where they were now. "Just go straight." The route didn't make any sense to Veronica. Wallace said they were on their way to Mac's apartment, but that wasn't right. This was a long stretch of road with no turns until they got to Carmel Valley, which then doubled back for a couple of miles. "Why didn't they just take the freeway?"

"I'm going to assume that was rhetorical."

Once they passed the office parks, the landscape opened to undeveloped space. It was a popular destination for bike riding and there were a few cyclists out for an early morning ride. A slight curve in the road and Veronica could see the ocean approaching on their left. Their two lanes narrowed down to one and she still hadn't spotted any evidence of yesterday's accident. As they crossed over Los Penasquitos Creek, she saw the damaged guardrail. "Here."

Logan was already slowing the car when she spoke. There was a bus lay-by directly ahead of them. He pulled into it and turned on the hazards. Veronica got out of the car and walked back to the accident scene. If the accident happened sooner, the car would've gone over the guardrail into the creek. If it happened later, they could've been pushed into the stone wall and crushed or shoved over the wall to the railroad tracks below. Leaning forward, Veronica looked at the potential drop. There was no way either of them would've survived that fall. _So why here?_

She took pictures of the road, the damaged guardrail and the drop. Then she hurried across the street to the median. It was flat, concrete almost two car-lengths in width and curb height. The oncoming truck would've needed to jump the curb, cross the divider and continue moving. She took more pictures and then returned to the car. When she slid back into her seat, Logan took her camera and opened his door. "My turn."

Veronica watched him walk the same path she just took, but he seemed to be spending a lot more time studying the ground. He crossed to the median and squatted on the concrete. Raising his head, he stared at the oncoming lane of traffic and then stood. Instead of returning to the car, he crossed to the beach side and walked up the road. Logan continued past where they were parked, pausing every few feet and staring back at the scene. Finally, he returned to the car and handed her the camera. "Okay Inspector Clousseau, what was all that about?"

"Je suis plus intelligent que Inspector Clouseau." Logan dropped the French. "Do you know that street racers use skid readings to see where shifts are made when a car is accelerating?"

"I don't know what any of that means."

He took the camera back and clicked through it to find the picture he wanted. "An acceleration skid mark darkens where the shift is made, which increases the torque on the rear wheels causing momentary slippage." Veronica held out her hands and shook her head. "_Braking_ skid marks are light at the beginning and get darker as they go. _Accelerating_ skid marks are dark at the beginning and get lighter."

"The truck was speeding up; not slowing down."

"There are also gouge marks in the road at the point of impact. Those happen more frequently in high speed collisions." He pointed through the windshield. "The incline of the road coming from that direction would've allowed the driver to pick up speed."

"So I was right; definitely not an accident."

Instead of confirming her statement, Logan frowned and took out his cell to place a call. "Where are you?" He listened for a few minutes. "We'll be by later; do you need anything?" Some nodding, "okay I'll stop at the house." Another brief pause, "did you take care of what we talked about last night?"

The '_be by later'_ meant he was talking to someone at the hospital and when she factored in the '_stop at the house'_, she knew he was talking to Dick. Now she just needed to know what he and Logan talked about last night.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Logan held up a hand to stave off her questions and nodded toward the backseat at Wyatt. "When we get to the beach." Putting the car in gear, he drove to Carmel Valley and made the turn. The street looped back around and he made the right on McGonigle Road at the brown wooden sign reading Torrey Pines State Beach and paid for parking. "The ocean or the lagoon?"

"Ocean," she responded without hesitation.

He wound his way through the lot, back toward the scene of the accident. When Norris said the car was pushed into the guardrail with enough force to flip them over it and onto the pedestrian walkway, he was talking about the path to the restrooms and showers. Logan navigated the Audi into a spot as close to the walkway as possible and popped the trunk.

While he unloaded their stuff, she got Wyatt out of the car. "I think it's too cold for you to go swimming today, sweet pea."

The baby pouted at her. "Me go 'wimming."

"But you'll get your tutu all wet." Wyatt glanced down at her tutu like she hadn't considered this problem. For a split second, Veronica thought she won, but then Wyatt started to push the tutu down her legs. Veronica looked at Logan. "A little help here?"

He shrugged. "Don't forget the blocks."

Wyatt sat on the ground to finish pulling off her tutu. She echoed Logan's reminder. "No 'get bocks, Mama."

Veronica frowned at both of them before leaning into the car to retrieve the tub of blocks. She handed them to Wyatt, picked her up and joined Logan at the trunk. Not only had he brought the cooler and towels, but he'd also remembered a blanket, their pop-up beach tent and Wyatt's tote of toys. The tote and tent were strapped over his shoulders and everything else was balanced on top of the cooler. She closed the trunk and followed him toward the beach.

There was still debris from the accident; tiny shards of glass, chips of car body and ripped plastic. The bigger pieces would've been towed with the vehicle to the Sheriff's impound lot for the investigation, but Veronica took her time walking through it anyway.

"See something?"

Logan's question made her realize she'd stopped. She shook her head and started moving again. _What did they find that would make someone want to kill them?_ They'd only been at Kane Software for a week. Neither of them had reported seeing anything strange and, if they had, Mac would've told Veronica when they spoke yesterday morning. _What happened on Saturday?_ Duncan seemed surprised that they were going into the office. _Wasn't me…maybe Jim needed them for something_.

The minute they reached the sand, Wyatt squirmed free of Veronica's arms, dropped her blocks and started running for the water. "Wyatt!" Logan's yell made the baby stop in her tracks. It was his stern voice, the one he hardly ever used with her, but when he did – instant compliance. "Come back and pick up your blocks."

Scowling, she did as he asked and stayed by their sides while Logan set up the tent. By the time the blanket was spread out and its corners were secured, Wyatt had stripped down to her bathing suit. She tilted her head and gave Logan her sweetest smile. "Daddy 'wimming?" When he hesitated, she added, "Pease."

He nodded. "Okay, but wait for me."

"Logan," Veronica warned. "It's too cold for—"

"Don't worry." He kicked off his shoes and rolled up his jeans. "She'll want out the minute she feels the water."

"Have you actually _met_ our daughter? She's the tiny, stubborn one; rules our house and likes to get her way."

"Really? I thought that was you." Without waiting for her reply, he scooped up Wyatt and jogged down to the shoreline. He started to swing her out over the ocean like he was going to throw her in and she squealed with delight. Putting her down next to him, they inched closer to the water. When the first icy wave broke over their legs, Wyatt ran halfway back to the blanket and Logan gave chase. Veronica lay on her side to watch them play; running up and down the beach while darting in and out of the water.

She rolled onto her back and stared at the sky. Whatever Mac and Lisa found was at Kane Software, which meant that's where she needed to be and that required making nice with Duncan. Veronica sighed. Playing nice and spending time with Duncan were the reasons she didn't want to take this case, but now she had no choice. If she'd just taken it in the first place…_then it could be you lying in a coma or possibly dead, Veronica. _Turning her head, her eyes found Wyatt. She was squatting in the sand next to Logan and they were looking at something Veronica couldn't see.

Whoever orchestrated the crash would be feeling pretty safe right now, but how long would that sense of security last if she immediately took over Lisa's job shredding paper? _Would they come after me next?_ It was possible.

An image of Laurel popped into her head; lonely and sad, without any memories of her mother. Tears pricked her eyes. Meg missed it all. She didn't get to see her daughter grow. There were no first steps and first words and she wouldn't be there for the first date and graduation and…_everything_.

Logan and Wyatt were walking toward the blanket. Veronica wiped her face and forced a smile. "Come here sweet pea, let me warm you up." She wrapped her in a towel and snuggled her close. "What did you and Daddy find?"

"A mitt cwab."

Veronica guessed, "A hermit crab?"

Wyatt nodded and slid off her lap. "Bocks now."

Logan knelt on the blanket. "Let's put your clothes on first." He put on her tee shirt and helped her into her leggings. Then he dusted the sand off her feet and kissed her toes before putting her Keds back on. He set her up at the edge of the blanket with her toys and it didn't take long for all the blocks to be scattered in the sand. "We may lose a few," Logan said as he dropped down next to Veronica.

She gave him a distracted _mmm hmm_ and hugged her knees. Wyatt was digging holes and dropping her blocks into them one at a time. _Definitely going to lose a few_. "So, what did you and Dick talk about last night?"

When no answer was forthcoming, she turned her head to look at him. _Intense focus_. She could see why he made a good pilot; his natural grace, the attention to detail, the ability to analyze and evaluate any situation. But he wasn't studying a plane's instrument panel, he was studying _her _and Veronica didn't like the scrutiny. She turned away and went back to watching Wyatt.

"I told Dick to hire guards for Mac's room."

She opened her mouth to ask _why_ and promptly closed it. If the motive behind the accident was to make sure that whatever Mac and Lisa learned remain a secret, the job wasn't done. It was something she should've considered. "Do you really think they'll try again?"

"Why take that chance?"

Veronica offered him a tender _I-love-you_ smile and then demonstrated the sentiment by touching his cheek and giving him a soft kiss. _Grateful for Logan's overprotective streak- who woulda thunk it?_ "Thank you."

He waved away her words, "It's Mac."

She rested her head on his arm. "Feel like calling Duncan for me and asking him to bring Laurel for dinner tonight?"

"No…but I will." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Veronica—"

"We need to stop at the office before going home and we should probably pick up something for dinner, Thai? …mmm, cream cheese wontons and Tom Yum soup."

His sigh said he knew she was avoiding… There were so many things she didn't want to talk about right now; the list was too long to enumerate. He opted for the one topic they never dodged- Wyatt. "A bad dream woke her up this morning."

_Like mother, like daughter_. "Did she tell you about it?"

"Only that we, you and I, went bye-bye and she was sad."

Their daughter could do guilt-trips better than a Jewish mother. She looked perfectly happy now; driving her yellow dump truck over a mound of sand and making _vroom vroom_ noises. "She missed us yesterday."

He hesitated. "Probably." It was her turn to study him, but he was giving nothing away. His expression was enigmatic. "I'm going to go call Duncan." The words weren't even out of his mouth and he was on the move. He walked far down the beach before taking out his cell.

Wyatt was staring after him and Veronica could tell she was getting ready to bolt. _Distraction time_. "Hey sweet pea, you want to make sand angels with Mommy?" She got up and picked a spot of dry sand. "First we have to lie down on our backs."

"Okay, Mama."

She waited for Wyatt and then got down next to her. "Now we drag our arms and legs in the sand like we're doing jumping jacks." Veronica demonstrated and then turned her head to watch the baby do it. "Now we have to get up really carefully. I'll go first and then help you." Getting up carefully was a lot easier when she could do a sit-up. She stared at her baby bump. _This was not a well thought out plan_.

"Problem?" She could hear the laughter in Logan's voice.

"No."

"Okay, just checking." He held out his hands for Wyatt and lifted her from the sand. "That's a very pretty angel. Should Daddy take a picture?"

"Me do."

Logan crouched down next to her and gave her the phone. "Hit this button here." Wyatt took the picture of her sand angel and gave the phone back to him. He snapped another photo and Veronica was sure it was of her. "Ready to each lunch jellybean? Mommy made peanut butter and jelly for you." The two of them started walking back to the blanket.

"Uh, Logan?"

He glanced back with a wide grin on his face. "Yes dear?"

He was going to make her ask. _Not in this lifetime, buddy_. Rolling on her side, she ruined her angel and started to get up. "Never mind, _honey_."

"See?" Logan took her hand, helped her to her feet and then pointed at her. "Tiny, stubborn one."

Ignoring him, she headed for the blanket and the cooler. "What did Duncan say?"

"They're coming at six and Thai food is fine."

"Was that it?"

"No…he also said if we're ordering from La Basil, he wants the spicy duck curry."

Veronica frowned at him and he shrugged. It was certainly _possible_ for it to be that simple considering Duncan invented _denial_, but really, not one word about last night? She held up two sandwiches for Logan. "Roast beef or turkey?"

He took both. "What are you eating?"

The no deli meat while pregnant rule really put a damper on sandwiches. "Peanut butter and pickles." But it was fun watching his face when she ate weird food combinations. "It's really good; want one?"

"Is that good as in actually edible or good like the raw onions dipped in mustard and hot sauce?"

Veronica finished fixing a plate for Wyatt and closed the cooler so she could use it as a table. "What can I say? Matthew likes spicy foods."

He shook his head. "Shelby just has bad taste like her mommy."

She gaped at him. "Bad taste?" Tilting her head, she pretended to consider the accusation. "Well… I did marry you."

"Sorry, I meant bad taste in _food._" Logan grinned. "Your taste in husbands is impeccable."

"I'm glad you used the plural because my next spouse is going to be decidedly less—"

"Irresistible?" He kissed her before she could correct him. "My taste in _a_ wife was pretty impeccable too." Stroking his fingers down her cheek, he cupped her chin and leaned in for another kiss. "And she also tastes good."

"Look, Daddy." Simultaneously they turned their heads toward Wyatt. Once she had their attention, she squeezed her juice box until the apple juice spewed out of the tiny straw and she tried to catch it in her mouth. From the amounts of spilled liquid on her face, plate and cooler this wasn't her first squeeze.

Logan chuckled. "Nice." He gave Wyatt a high five and Veronica shook her head. There was no need to ask where she'd learned this little trick; the epitome of incorrigible behavior was sitting right next to her, all six-feet of him. He took the juice box from Wyatt. "Now eat some of your sandwich."

There was a slight pout at the loss of her juice, but she did as he asked without arguing. _I wish he'd teach me that trick_. They ate lunch while trying to come up with different things to "make" with their triangle shapes. Veronica stood the cheese wedges pointy side up, arranged them in a circle and declared it a crown. Logan took a triangle cracker said it was a cone and put one of Veronica's pickle circles on top as a scoop of pickle-flavored ice cream.

Wyatt's face scrunched in distaste. "Yuck, Daddy."

Logan uttered the words, "I bet Mommy would like it," just as Veronica was thinking that pickle-flavored ice cream sounded pretty good. His smirk said he knew he was right.

"You think you know me so well."

"I do know you…" In a heartbeat, his smile changed from smug to indecent and his hand slid up her thigh. "Intimately."

She got up on her knees and leaned in close until their mouths were almost touching. Very slowly she slid her hands up his chest and then gave him a really good shove, toppling him over into the sand. "Bet you didn't see that coming- did ya?"

Logan grabbed her hand pulling her down on top of him. "You know I like it when you play rough." He tugged at her bottom lip with his teeth and kissed her. "Now if you're done having your way with me, we should probably get going."

Reluctantly, Veronica got up and started packing their things. She didn't really want to leave the beach. Leaving the beach meant returning to the real world and facing all the things she was trying to avoid. This wasn't like her. _That's not really true, Veronica; avoidance is your modus operandi._ But normally, she avoided the _personal_ not the work. She told Logan this morning, _I can't leave this alone_, but here she was trying her best to not deal with it. It wasn't that she didn't want to figure out who did this to Mac because she did. It was just that everything felt…_fragile_. "You know I love you right?"

He stopped folding the canopy to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"Jeez, can't a woman tell her husband she loves him without it being the end of the world?" She picked up Wyatt and started walking to the car. By the time she had the baby strapped into her car seat; Logan had caught up with them and was loading the stuff into the trunk. When he got in the car she reminded him that she wanted to stop by the office. "I want to get the case files."

He didn't say anything until they reached the freeway. "I need to bring Dick a change of clothes; he's been at the hospital all night."

"After we get the files you can drop us off at the house before you go."

"Don't you want to come with me?"

Veronica shook her head. "No. Wyatt needs a nap and I'm going to do some work before Duncan and Laurel show up. Just remember to pick up dinner on your way home."

"You can't…" He fell silent and took her hand. "I love you too Veronica."

They pulled up in front of the office and she slipped out of the car. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door to the suite was locked. It being a Sunday, she didn't expect anyone to be here, but part of her was afraid of running into her father. Her initial anger at him was just assigning blame in order to contain her grief and she owed him an apology. A better apology than a quick, I'm sorry and I've got to go because Logan's waiting in the car.

She clicked on the overhead lights. The case files were probably in Lisa's office, but she checked her father's desk first and found nothing about Kane Software. She started to leave and sat back down. Opening his bottom drawer, she pulled out Lisa's personnel file. Right on the front, beneath her name and date of hire, was her emergency contact information. Veronica took the file with her to Lisa's office.

If her own office was considered generic and sterile than Lisa's office would be downright inhospitable. There were no visitor's chairs, no paintings, no personal items at all. There wasn't even a plant. Sitting behind the desk, she went through the drawers first. The theme of no personal items continued in the contents of her desk. Aside from office supplies and some snack food most of the drawers were empty.

Veronica flipped through the files in the inbox. The thick file with the background checks from Clarence was at the top of the pile. There were also separate files on Kane Software, Microtech, Duncan and both James and Mai Soong. She'd obviously taken Veronica's advice to have Mac do a more thorough check on the Soongs. Of the remaining files, two were unlabeled and the last one was the trophy wife divorce case, which she'd turned over to Veronica and yet here it was back on her desk.

She added Lisa's personnel file to the pile and scooped up the entire stack. She'd already left Logan and Wyatt waiting too long; she would just have to read through the files at home.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

After Logan dropped them off, she gave Wyatt a bath to wash off the beach and the apple juice. It was only supposed to be a quick rinse before naptime, but Wyatt was moving at her extra slow setting to avoid bed. She didn't want to sleep in her room and she wouldn't lie down. Every time she would start to drift off and Veronica got up, her eyes would snap open. _Mama stay_. Veronica finally relented and let her nap in the _big bed_ with Mommy, but it still took two stories and a lullaby before she was completely asleep.

She carried her back to her bed, put the nightlight on and left the door open. The case files were on the dining room table. Veronica spread them out and called her dad. "Guess who?"

"My obstinate and headstrong daughter?"

"I don't know who that is, but _this_ is the daughter you love unconditionally and who, on the rare occasion she's wrong, you forgive immediately."

He chuckled. "Rare occasion?"

"Like Halley's Comet." _If only that were really true_. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I know it wasn't your fault. I was just…" She sighed. "Have you been to the hospital today?"

"I'm here now with Logan and Wallace. We're in the cafeteria getting everyone coffee." _Everyone except me_. He didn't say it, but she knew he was wondering and his next words confirmed it. "Do you want me to come watch Wyatt?"

"No, but thanks for the offer. Duncan and Laurel are coming for dinner and I want to go through the case file before they get here. Any word on Mac?"

"They woke her up this morning to check her reflexes and ask her some questions. Her ICP…" He sounded unsure and there was a long pause. Veronica assumed he was seeking confirmation from someone because when he resumed talking it was with more confidence. "Her ICP numbers look good, which means the pressure is decreasing."

Veronica couldn't control the hopefulness in her tone. "So she's awake?"

"No, they put her back under after the exam. The doctor said this is standard protocol; waking her up every morning during rounds to assess her…progress." The slight hesitation before the word progress spoke volumes. They weren't only checking for improvement, they were checking for damage.

"Did they say how long they're going to keep her in the coma?" As she asked the question, Veronica opened her laptop and typed _medically induced coma_ into Google. The words, _patient receives a controlled dose of an anesthetic, typically propofol_, were immediately followed by, _you do it for someone who is really ill when other options are diminishing_. She closed the search.

"The doctor seems very optimistic that it won't be for long." _It was already too long_. When she didn't say anything, he asked. "Are you okay honey?"

Instead of answering him, she asked her own question. "Have you called Lisa's family yet?"

"I tried. I went to their house twice; last night on my way home and again this morning. Both times, nobody was there. I finally left a message for her brother asking him to call me."

Veronica pulled the personnel file closer. The name Scott Watson and his phone number in Seattle were listed right beneath the address and phone number for her parents. Even now, the memory of her call to Piz's parents was still vivid enough for her to know she wasn't making the same call to Lisa's brother. "What did Lisa tell you about the case? Was she making any progress?"

"Whatever she found is in the files, but it's not much. She didn't think Karen was involved in the theft and none of the other people working on the project set off any alarm bells. She was digging through the financials for Kane Software and she was going to look into Charles Shepherd next."

"Okay, I'll start there."

She started flipping through the files and her fingers stilled at her father's next sentence. "Veronica, I was talking to Logan and—" Someone interrupted him. _Probably Logan_. It was never a good idea when her father and her husband started talking about her. It almost made her wish for the good old days when they didn't get along. "He said he'll discuss it with you when he gets home."

_Of course he will_. "Great, looking forward to it." She found the file labeled Kane Software and the information on Charles Shepherd. "I need to go before the baby wakes up."

"Call me if you need me."

Veronica had a feeling she would be calling him right after her conversation with Logan. "I will Dad." She hung up before he could say anything more.

The file on Kane Software contained their annual report for last year, which was comprised of their financials, management analysis, corporate information, and an auditors report. There was also a detailed narrative that explained the company's activities for the year and a copy of the letter to the shareholders. Veronica skimmed through the information. The profit and loss statement showed heavy losses in all four quarters and Lisa had scribbled a note in the margin: _public lost faith in company after Jake's death_.

Despite the bleak numbers, the letter to the shareholders sounded upbeat and positive. It glossed over the drop in revenues by concentrating on their lower operating costs. Lisa underlined the sentence and wrote the word _layoffs_ next to it. There was an entire paragraph devoted to the acquisition of both an interactive online gaming company and a company that developed apps. Again Lisa made a comment on the paragraph: _Kane Software hasn't developed a new product in a long time_.

The end of the letter extolled the virtues of their research and development team, mentioned technological innovation as the foundation of the company and said that they were committed to smart, long-term investments in new products. It outlined their plan to expand into cloud computing and hinted at the development of Smartpaper without actually naming the product or giving away too much information. Lisa's final thought was: _all available resources have been devoted to this project_.

Veronica returned the pages to the file. Lost faith, falling revenues, layoffs, and no new products sounded like the death knell for Kane Software. The company was limping along and counting on Smartpaper to turn its fortunes around. Given Jake's slow deterioration after Lilly's death, it was no surprise that his company was experiencing the same decline.

She picked up the background check on Charles Shepherd. His resume was impressive. Not only did he hold simultaneous degrees in business and engineering from MIT, he was also the recipient of the National Medal of Technology award. Right out of college he started working for one of the top names in the software industry and eventually left them to start his own company, which focused on creating accounting and business programs.

When his company was acquired by Kane Software he came on board as the chief operating officer and then took over as chief executive officer when Jake died. His displacement as CEO by Duncan would've been a bitter pill to swallow and might give him a personal motive for wanting to steal the project especially since Smartpaper was Duncan's baby.

Veronica moved on to his financials. There was nothing strange on his tax returns or in his banking. He made a nice six figure salary and owned a luxury home in the prestigious 90909 zip code. Twice married; his first wife lived with their two children, a boy and a girl, in Newport Beach and his second wife was a former model. Veronica rolled her eyes. _He's a walking cliché_. She let out a low whistle at the amount of his monthly child support and alimony payments. _Maybe he needs the money from Microtech to keep his ex in her fancy home and designer clothes_.

The credit report showed a lot of revolving debt, but nothing he couldn't afford to pay with his salary. He didn't have a criminal record. There were no bankruptcies, liens or judgments against him. No wants or warrants either. He owned stock in Kane Software and held a seat on the board as part of his employment package.

Veronica tossed the pages back on the table. Hers were the fifth set of eyes to go over this information and none of it was useful. Nobody had missed anything or left some clue undiscovered. It was frustrating. As background checks went, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't at the same level as Mac's work. There were no phone records, credit card statements, or emails. It was all very _ordinary_.

Unless she planned on taking a crash course in computer hacking, Veronica was going to need someone to fill in for Mac until she was out of the hospital. She could ask Clarence to lend her one of his employees or she could put an ad in the paper. She smirked. _Wanted computer expert for illegal activities_.

"You look like someone kicked your puppy." Logan was leaning in the doorway.

She laid her head on the table and groused, "We don't have a puppy."

The corner of his mouth ticked upward. "Yet." Veronica gave him a baleful stare. "You know it's what she wants," he coaxed.

"So? She also wants to paint with toothpaste, pull all the toilet paper off the roll and make it snow with Mommy's flour."

"Good times." He grinned at the memory of Wyatt doing all three of those things _on the same day_. "Speaking of our little hellion, where is she?"

"Still napping."

Dropping a hand on the nape of her neck, he gently started to rub. "How's it going?"

"Mmm," she closed her eyes enjoying the massage. "What's the term? A goat rope?"

Logan chuckled, "I love when you try to play Navy." He kissed the back of her neck. "Embrace the suck, Veronica."

_This entire thing sucked_. "Were you able to see Mac?"

His expression grew serious and he shook his head before taking the seat next to her. "Still immediate family only." His fingers curled around the arm of the chair and his thumb started tapping. "Your dad…" The words trailed off and he frowned.

"You might as well just spit it out because I'm sure I'm not going to like it, no matter how you phrase it."

"He suggested moving in here with Dottie while you're working this case. Varying routines, extra eyes on Wyatt and he wants to make sure you're carrying your gun."

Her first impulse was to argue; _oh, I didn't realize guns now stop car accidents_. "I don't know Logan," she paused. "How do you feel about it?"

"I'd like to wrap you in Kevlar and make you drive a tank."

Veronica smiled. "Could we make out in my tank?"

"Are you trying to distract me with thoughts of you naked?"

"Depends." She left her chair and straddled his lap. "Is it working?"

"A little bit." His somber brown eyes belied the teasing tone. One of his hands slid down her spine, pulling her closer, while the other hand brushed back her hair. The conversation with her dad had clearly rattled him and his worry was obvious. "It's something to think about."

Veronica went for the joke. "Me naked?"

"That's utmost on my mind, always." He kissed her nose. "But seriously folks. Extra precautions? Not necessarily a bad thing, right?"

"Four armed adults with tempers and attitudes living under one roof with a toddler? That sounds like a bad sitcom." She got off his lap. "Full House sponsored by the NRA."

Logan's brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to respond and then promptly closed it; his lips thinning into a narrow line. His chest rose and fell with the deep breath he took. "Can we compromise?"

"History says no." She busied herself with organizing the files and clearing off the table. "No houseguests, but I'll carry my gun." Veronica picked up the stack of papers. "And we don't have any routines; unless you count our comedy shtick."

He arched an eyebrow and waggled an imaginary cigar. "Say goodnight, Gracie."

Veronica shook her head. "I'm Burns, _you're_ Allen."

"I've got a ciga—"

"Don't even finish that." She carried the files from the dining room to her office. They'd finally turned the spare room into her office just in time for it to become a nursery. Logan insisted that they leave it alone and get rid of the guest room instead; _it's not like we ever have overnight company_. She, on the other hand, thought they needed it for late-night babysitters or when Trina came to visit. _Then again, if Dad insists on playing My Bodyguard every time I work a case- goodbye, guest room_.

Veronica put the pile on her desk and turned to the closet. The shoebox of pictures was hidden away on the top shelf. She pushed at the box with her fingertips trying to get it close to the edge.

"Need help?"

"If you don't stop sneaking up on me, I'm going to make you wear a bell."

Logan took down the box, but instead of handing it to her, he opened the lid. "A little trip down memory lane?" He lifted out one of the pictures and held it up for her. _Of course it had to be one of me and Duncan_. It was from the spring dance, freshman year.

"I really did wear a lot of pink." She plucked it from his fingers, put it back in the box and took the entire thing from him. "I promised Laurel pictures of Meg."

"Mama?" Wyatt's soft question was both tentative and anxious.

"You go get her and I'll…" Logan sandwiched the shoebox between his palms. "Take this."

She hesitated until another "_Mama"_ came from their daughter's room; this one was slightly louder and more impatient. Leaving Logan alone with the pictures, she went to get Wyatt. "Hey sleepy girl, how was your nap?" The baby nodded at her and yawned. Veronica picked her up and sat in the rocking chair to snuggle. "You were sleeping for a long time; Mommy missed you."

Wyatt rested her head on Veronica's shoulder and let out another loud yawn. "Where Daddy?"

"He's inside. Do you want to get dressed and go find him?"

"Okay."

Veronica changed her diaper and put her in a new pair of black leggings with a black and white striped shirt. "Do you want socks or your bunny slippers?"

"Tutu."

Biting her tongue, Veronica got the bag of tutus from the back of the closet, let Wyatt pick out which color she wanted and helped her into it. Then she put matching purple socks on her feet. "All set; let's go find Daddy."

They found him in the living room pouring through the pictures. He'd created piles of photos on the coffee table. Upon spotting him, Wyatt ran across the room. She launched herself at his lap and he caught her before she landed, sending the shoebox toppling to the floor. "Somebody's happy to see me."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "P'ay time."

"What do you want to play?"

"Boat."

He stood with her. "If you need us, we'll be playing boat."

Veronica watched them walk down the hall. In less than five minutes, their bedroom would be a complete disaster; blankets in disarray and pillows tossed "overboard" as lifeboats. She suspected that Wyatt only liked to play this game because she liked jumping from the bed to the pillows trying to avoid the "water" that was their carpet.

Picking up the shoebox and scattered pictures, she started to flip through them creating her own piles. She'd almost reached the bottom of the box when the doorbell rang. _Showtime_.

"We come bearing ice cream." Duncan held up the bag. "Vanilla, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and Salted Caramel. No waffles though."

Veronica offered him a slight smile and took the proffered bag. "Thanks," she murmured. "Come on in." She took a step back. "I was just going through some pictures."

When she mentioned the pictures, Laurel's face lit up. "Did you find some of my mom?"

Nodding, Veronica closed the door behind them. "There were more than I thought. I even have one of your mom and dad at the Total Eclipse of the Heart dance."

Surprise flickered across Duncan's face. He turned to his daughter. "It was our first date; I was Duckie and she was Andie." Laurel just stared at him. "From Pretty in Pink? It was an eighties dance."

She gave him a half-shrug. "Sure."

"They're on the table." Veronica pointed. "I'm going to put this in the freezer." _And get Logan_. She waited until Duncan and Laurel were settled on the couch and then disappeared; first into the kitchen and then to get Logan and Wyatt.

The blankets were spread out on the floor with the pillows tossed on them. Their top sheet was folded like a triangle and tied from the ceiling light fixture to the headboard like a sail. Wyatt's magnetic fish were strewn all over the place and the two of them were sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, fishing poles in hand, trying to catch them.

When Wyatt spotted her, she grinned. "Me fish."

"I see that; have you caught enough for dinner?"

She looked at the toy fish and back to Veronica. "No, Mama." Her confused tone made Logan smile.

"Mommy means pretend eat like when Daddy eats your toes." To demonstrate, he pushed her down on the mattress, picked up her foot and nibbled her toes making _num, num, num_ noises. She giggled.

"Duncan's here."

"And you need rescuing already?"

"Rescue? Please," she scoffed. "I can handle Duncan in my sleep. I just wanted your company."

"Sure you did." He got up and held his arms out for the baby. "Come on Wy, let's go keep Mommy company."

"No. Me fish."

Logan let his arms fall to his side and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. It was his equivalent to a Daddy time-out while he thought about how to handle the situation. "We need to go eat dinner now and maybe after, Laurel will come in here and fish with you."

The mention of Laurel piqued her interest, but she didn't move. "No."

"I got you sticky rice." It was a good incentive; Wyatt loved eating sticky rice with her fingers. She slid off the bed and skipped out of the room. He sighed. "When does the no stage end?"

"Uh, never." Veronica grinned. "How many did you say you wanted again? Five, was it?"

"As if that was ever going to happen."

"Hey, I was considering it."

"Liar." He grabbed her hand for their walk down the hall. "Ready for dinner?" Logan asked as they entered the room.

Wyatt was kneeling on the floor next to Laurel looking at the pictures. Duncan held up a photo. "Do you remember this?"

Logan went to take it from him for a closer look and Veronica went to the kitchen. She didn't want to spend an evening reminiscing. She wanted to get through dinner as quick as possible, make plans to start working at Kane Software, and then politely kick Duncan out of the house. The bags from LaBasil were on the table. She put the first round of containers in the microwave to reheat. Grabbing dishes and silverware, she brought them to the dining room and set the table.

She caught snippets of their conversation on her trips to and from the dining room. _Veronica was so mad_, this from Duncan. Logan's response, _you dared me to do it_.

Veronica paused mid-stride. "Dared you to do what?"

Logan glanced over his shoulder. "Throw you in the pool after Winter Formal."

It wasn't something she was likely to forget. The heater on the pool was broken, the water was freezing and she was wearing that _thin_ white dress Lilly insisted upon. Veronica frowned, but all she said was, "Dinner's ready."

They traipsed into the dining room and took their seats around the table. Logan helped Wyatt into her booster, cut up her grilled chicken and gave her the promised sticky rice.

Veronica took the seat next to Laurel. "How's school?"

"It's okay." _And the laconic junior miss was back_.

With her first bite of food, Veronica realized how hungry she was and she no longer cared if Laurel felt like chatting or that Logan was smirking at how fast she was putting away the Pad Thai.

"You might want to save some for the rest of us."

She stole a wonton from his plate and popped it in her mouth. "You might want to hush up or you'll be doing the dishes- _alone_."

Silence settled over the table and Veronica felt no need to fill it. She didn't want to talk about the case in front of the children and she didn't want to talk about anything else, period.

"I was surprised when Logan called with a dinner invitation."

She paused in her eating and gave Duncan a pointed look. "I promised Laurel pictures of Meg."

Duncan nodded like he understood her look, but then proceeded with the conversation. "After the hospital, I wasn't sure I'd be seeing you."

"I was upset." _There, that's as close to an apology as you're getting_. "Mac's doing better." _Thanks for asking_.

"That's good. Is she awake?"

"They woke her up this morning." Veronica chose to leave off the part about them putting her back under as she gauged Duncan's reaction. His features remained relaxed; no worry or alarm at the news that Mac was awake. Logan was staring at her. She turned her head and smiled at him.

"Does that mean I'll be able to visit soon?"

Logan gave her a _let's-see-how-you-get-out-of-this-one_ smirk. Veronica shook her head. _Oh, ye of little faith_. "No, her visitors are restricted." It wasn't a lie and once they were allowing people other than family, Veronica would make sure security kept Duncan off the approved visitor list.

"You know, I understand if you don't want to work the case anymore." Logan's jaw dropped and he stared at Duncan in stunned amazement. Noticing his reaction, Duncan asked, "What?"

"This is _Veronica_. It's like you don't know her at all."

"Her friend was almost kill—"

She cut him off before he could finish the word. "Does anybody want the last spring roll?" Everyone declined and she took it for herself. "After dinner Laurel, maybe you can watch a movie with Wyatt?" It was the best she had to offer. There wasn't anything else in the house of entertainment value to a twelve-year-old. _Not that she's going to enjoy Winnie-the-Pooh_.

Wyatt frowned. "Boat."

"I don't think Laurel wants to play boat sweet pea."

Laurel shrugged, "I'll play boat."

That was enough for Wyatt to be done with dinner. "Down."

Veronica glanced at her plate; she'd eaten more than half of her chicken and most of the rice. "You have to wait for Laurel."

"I'm done." She stood and waited for Logan to free Wyatt from her booster chair. Picking up her plate, she looked at Veronica. "Where do you want me to put this?"

"Just leave it; I'll get it." Once the kids left the room, she turned to Duncan. "I want to come work at Kane Software, take Lisa's place shredding paper."

He frowned. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Logan paused, his hand hovering over the plate of wontons. He lowered his arm and turned to Veronica awaiting her reply. _He thinks I'm going to lose my temper_. "I need access to the people on the project."

"I'm not comfortable with that. Somebody killed Lisa and almost succeeded in killing Mac. Having you come work there is like painting a target on your back." He shook his head. "I won't do it."

Logan turned away, but not before Veronica caught the look of relief that crossed his face. She directed her comment to both of them. "I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."

"I won't allow it." Duncan's statement made Logan tense and Veronica wasn't sure if his reaction was because he knew it would make her angry or if he was pissed that another man was trying to tell his wife what she could do. _Probably both_.

"It will be fine; _I'll_ be fine. I'm just going to get a feel for the project and the group dynamic, ask a few questions. They won't even realize I'm there." From Duncan's stony expression, she could tell he remained unconvinced. "I have a lot more experience at this than Lisa did."

"What if there was another way?"

When he didn't elaborate, Veronica snapped. "Well, are you going to share your plan or did you want me to guess?"

"You could pretend to be my girlfriend."


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

If there were stages to anger, Logan was cycling through them at a rapid clip. He'd moved beyond tense to extreme agitation. Before he could get to the explosion, Veronica spoke up. "Uh, married." She waved her wedding and engagement rings at Duncan. "And pregnant."

"I've been giving this a lot of thought."

_I bet you have_. Veronica glanced at Logan. His hands were curled into fists and the muscles in his cheek were throbbing in time with the clenching and unclenching of his jaw. Unaware of the potentially dangerous situation, Duncan kept talking.

"If you took over for Lisa, the only person you'd be spending any time with is Karen and Lisa told me on Friday she didn't think Karen was involved."

_That was true_. It was the reason her dad and Lisa both felt that Mac needed to be involved- to get close to the other people on the project.

"Plus you coming to work there right after Lisa was killed would be…" He searched for the right word and chose, "Suspicious. These are very smart people Veronica. It's not going to take them long to figure out who you are and see you as a threat."

If she wasn't so annoyed, she would have to commend him on his reasoning; Duncan had accurately pegged what she'd been worried about all day. It was why her father wanted to move in here and why Logan wanted to wrap her in Kevlar and buy a tank.

"Veronica, I, uh…care about you; I don't want to see you hurt, or worse, because of this, because of me."

When he stumbled over the word _care_, Logan's lips curled in a contemptuous sneer and Veronica knew what he was thinking- that '_care about'_ wasn't what Duncan wanted to say. "I still don't see how my pretending to be your girlfriend is going to help."

"You can come and go as you please at Kane Software under the guise of visiting me. When you ask questions, they'll think it's just your interest in my work. You'll have access to all the employees." The way he ticked off the answers made it seem like he was reading from a prepared list. "And, the party Celeste threw last night? It was sort of a meet-and-greet; a way to introduce the Smartpaper engineers to some key stockholders and future investors. Since it was…since it ended early, she can throw another one and I can introduce you."

"As your girlfriend." Logan's head spun around and he gaped at her. Veronica offered him a tender smile and gave his forearm a reassuring squeeze, but he only snapped his jaw closed and turned away. Frowning, she looked at Duncan. "You said yourself these are smart people, how are they going to believe we're dating? It's not like I can hide the fact that I'm pregnant."

Her baby bump appeared a lot sooner this time around than it did with Wyatt; Dr. Villella said it was because the muscles were more flexible and not as firm. She was already wearing maternity clothes for comfort, but…Veronica glanced at her stomach- _maybe if I wear a body shaper and layer my clothes? _

"My deal with the authorities, it took a long time to hammer out the details." Duncan shifted in his chair and scratched the back of his neck. "My whereabouts for the past year haven't exactly been a secret."

Veronica's gaze narrowed. "What are you getting at?"

"Both Celeste and Lizzie came to visit us in Hong Kong." He averted his gaze and rubbed his forehead. "You could've come too."

"What the fuck?" Logan abruptly stood, knocking over his chair. "First you want my _wife_ to pretend to be your girlfriend and now…_now_ you want people to think _my_ baby is yours?"

Duncan started to rise out of his chair. "Maybe you should check your ego; this isn't about you. This is about keeping Veronica safe. Shouldn't that be your top priority?"

"Don't fucking tell me about priorities. This is _my_ family we're talking about and I don't give a shit about your project. The only reason Veronica is investigating is because of Mac, not _you_." Logan was advancing on Duncan as he spoke.

Veronica got up. "Why don't we calm down and discuss—"

Logan twisted his body around to face her. "Are you actually considering this bullshit?"

"I think we need to take a step back and look at the big picture."

"Oh I can see the big picture; it's abso-_fuckin'_-lutely crystal clear." When she didn't respond, he tossed his hands in the air. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want."

The '_you always do'_ remained unsaid, but Veronica heard it and it made her mad. That was the old her. This was not how they handled things now. Her eyes met his; beneath the anger, she could see…_fear_. "Logan." It was a soft and gentle reminder that they weren't the ones fighting and that she loved _him_.

He backed away from Duncan and righted his chair. "I need some air."

Veronica watched him stalk out of the room. The not-so-quiet thud of the back door signaled his departure from the house.

"I'm sorry Veronica. I didn't realize he'd get so mad."

"Really Duncan?" She chastised. "You thought you could suggest telling people that I cheated on him and was having a baby with you and he wouldn't get mad? Did you expect him to pat you on the back and say hey that's a great plan?"

He dropped into his chair. "I didn't think about it that way. Honestly, I was just thinking about you and your safety."

"I'm _his_ wife, not yours and, frankly, I don't need either of you making decisions for me and telling me what to do, but if anyone has the right to be worried about me- it's Logan."

Duncan nodded. "I should go apologize to him."

"That's not a good idea." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Just give him some time to cool off." If he went outside now, his chances of remaining in one piece were not good.

There was a stretch of awkward silence while he thought about her advice. "You know, the hardest part of being on the run was missing the people: my family, friends, you and Logan. I've only been back two weeks and I feel like I'm messing it all up. It's hard for me; I didn't think things would be exactly the same as when I left, but…" He shook his head. "Maybe I did just expect to come back and pick up my old life like nothing changed."

_Did that include us?_ Veronica started clearing the table. "Maybe we should skip dessert."

"Then I guess it's a good thing we didn't mention the ice cream in front of Wyatt, huh?" The attempt at humor did little to relieve the tension in the room. He got up to help her clean. "Just forget my plan. I don't want it to ruin my friendship with Logan." A wry smile twisted his mouth. "Well, anymore than it already has."

"I think…" There were parts of his plan that would definitely work. A party would be a good place to meet everyone while they were relaxed and off-guard. Plus unfettered access to Kane Software would allow her to monitor all the employees, not just those involved with Smartpaper. _Am I really thinking about doing this?_ "Let me talk to Logan and we'll work something out."

Duncan started to load the dishwasher. "We've been friends since we were five. I'm glad he's happy Veronica and I don't want to ruin it."

She frowned. _Was he talking about the friendship or Logan's happiness?_ She finished storing the leftovers in the fridge. "Logan is pretty forgiving." Another gross understatement. For all the hurt he'd suffered, he still had a generous heart and an overwhelming capacity for forgiveness. Their marriage was proof of that. He'd forgiven her and taken her back so many times; taking a chance and opening himself up to the potential of _unbearable pain later_ all just to be with her.

"He told me he didn't care; on the phone this afternoon, he told me he didn't care about Aaron. Detergent?"

The non-sequitur threw her for a minute. "Under the sink."

After filling the dispenser, he returned the detergent to the cabinet and started the dishwasher. "How did you know?"

"I found the wire transfer you sent to Clarence."

"It's not really proof." He hedged.

"No, it isn't." If he was looking for more of an assurance from her, he wasn't going to get it. "I should check on Wyatt and go talk to Logan."

"I'll come get Laurel."

Veronica started down the hall and stopped. "Why was Lauren Sinclair at the hospital with you?"

"I told you the Sinclairs would be at my mom's party." That wasn't really an answer. She put her hands on her hips and waited for more. Duncan shrugged. "When the Sheriff told us about the accident, Lauren insisted on coming with me. She didn't say why and I didn't ask. I assumed she knew Mac."

Satisfied with his answer, she continued down the hall to the bedroom. The girls had given up on playing boat and they were sprawled across the bed watching _Peter Pan_. Wyatt was on her side in front of Laurel, head on a pillow and thumb in her mouth. Her eyes were half-closed and she'd probably fall asleep soon if Veronica left her alone.

Seeing that the baby was almost asleep, Duncan put his finger against his lips and motioned for Laurel to join him. Reluctantly, she slid off the bed and followed them from the room. Veronica waited until they reached the front door before speaking. "Thanks for playing with Wyatt."

Laurel shrugged. "We mostly watched the movie."

Duncan paused with his hand on the knob. "Call me after you talk to Logan and let me know what you want to do."

As he opened the door, Veronica remembered the photos. "Wait, don't forget your pictures." She crossed to the coffee table and found the pile she'd created for Laurel. Not only had she given her all the ones of Meg, she'd included any solitary photo of Duncan and tossed in a few of Lilly.

"I can really keep them?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Of course you can." Laurel gave her a quick hug and bounded out of the house before Veronica could say anything else. If it was hard for Duncan, she couldn't imagine how it was for Laurel. All those years of not getting too close to anyone for fear that they would discover your secret. Moving from place to place and always being the new kid.

Duncan was staring after his daughter. When he turned back, he looked sad. "Thanks for that. She's…lonely and she was really excited about coming here tonight. She likes you and Logan and Wyatt."

Veronica felt bad about cutting the evening short. "Maybe one night this week she can come back? Eat that ice cream?"

"Just let me know when."

"I will." She closed the door behind them and went to the yard in search of her husband. The pool lights were on and steam was rising from the heated water, but there was no sign of him. "Logan?" Moving closer to the pool, she found his clothes in a pile on a nearby chair. His head broke the surface of the water, but before she could say anything he went back under.

She circled the pool to stand at the edge where he would come up for air and watched him swim his underwater laps. _It's definitely a great view._ Kicking off her shoes, she sat down and dangled her feet in the water. He surfaced almost immediately, a few feet short of where she sat. "Where's Wyatt?"

"Asleep on our bed."

He wiped the water from his face. "Are they gone?"

"They just left." He swam to the other side of the pool, put his hands on the edge and hoisted himself out of the water. Forgetting his clothes, he started walking toward the house and away from her. "Where are you going?"

"Inside."

_Guess the swim didn't help him cool down at all_. Veronica gathered his clothes, picked up her shoes and followed him into the house. "Are we not speaking to each other?"

"I think what we're doing now is considered speaking."

"Really? Because it feels like fighting."

He just shook his head and continued moving. Veronica let him go. No sleep last night coupled with a long day, topped off with a dose of Duncan and she was too tired to fight with Logan. She lay on the sofa and closed her eyes. She felt wretched. Her eyes were dry and gritty, her feet hurt and her back was aching. _And I want ice cream_. The fluttering in her tummy told her the baby agreed- it was ice cream time, but she didn't want to move.

"Are you okay?"

_I don't want to move and I don't want to open my eyes either_. "I'm fine." She slowly opened one eye. Logan was standing over her, clad only in a pair of boxer shorts with a towel draped around his neck. She swung her legs off the sofa, put her hand on the cushion and started to push herself upright.

"What do you want? I'll get it."

"The Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream."

He smirked. "Do you want it in a bowl or should I just bring the carton and a spoon?"

"What do you think?"

"Carton and a spoon it is." It didn't take him long to return with the ice cream. He handed it to her, pushed the coffee table out of the way and moved the ottoman over for her legs. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?"

"It's not like you to turn down a good fight." He lifted her legs, sat on the ottoman and put her feet in his lap. Veronica wiggled her toes at him. "Is that a hint?"

"Too subtle?" He started massaging her feet. "God that feels good. You are the best husband ever."

Logan arched an eyebrow. "I think we should go to the emergency room or at the very least I should check you for a fever." She stuck her tongue out at him. "What? Fever causes delirium."

"I'm not delirious." Veronica sucked the ice cream off her spoon. "Are you done being mad at me?"

"No. I get ice cream and give foot rubs to everyone I'm mad at."

"That must take up a lot of time in your day."

He nodded. "It can be a real hassle scheduling them all in, but I make it work." He moved to the next foot and dropped his gaze. "What did you and Duncan decide to do?"

She jabbed his stomach with her toes. "You're an idiot."

"Wow I love you too honeybunch."

"Duncan and I didn't decide anything. In case you've forgotten, I'm married to you. That makes you my decision-making partner. And, if it makes you feel any better, Duncan said we should forget his plan." Veronica took another mouthful of ice cream.

"So you're not going to do it?"

"I don't know." She leaned back and closed her eyes. "I've been thinking about it all day or trying not to think about it. No unnecessary risks, that's what we said."

"I wanted to put it in our wedding vows." He was only half-joking.

"Duncan was right; taking over Lisa's job would be a big risk for no reason. I'm not going to learn anything more than she did, which was nothing."

"Nothing didn't get her killed."

Veronica shook her head. "It's more likely that _Mac_ learned something or saw something." Logan removed her feet from his lap and stood. Her eyes popped open. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not okay with this. I don't trust Duncan when it comes to you." He dragged a hand through his hair. "I need you to not do this."

"Can you just sit down and talk to me?"

He dropped into the chair next to her, but he didn't look happy about staying. "Go ahead explain to me how this is a great idea."

"I think it's a shitty idea and I don't want to do it." Both of his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I wouldn't be able to stay here with you and Wyatt, I'd have to tell everyone I cheated on my husband, and," she gave an exaggerated shudder. "I'd have to pretend to be dating Duncan."

Logan smiled. "Then why all the hemming and hawing."

"First, I don't hem and haw, I carefully consider and weigh all my options and second, there are parts of his plan that sound good." She scraped the container for the last spoonful of ice cream before putting it on the coffee table. Logan eyed the empty carton, but he wisely kept all comments to himself.

"Which parts? Because I hated the entire thing." He left his chair and joined her on the sofa. Dropping an arm around her shoulder, he pulled her closer and kissed her temple. "Well except for the bit about keeping Veronica safe, that I loved."

"Shocker." She rested her head on his arm. "Access to Kane Software would be helpful and that party sounds promising."

"You actually _want_ to go to a party thrown by Celeste Kane? Definitely delirious."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "I could pretend to be someone else? Wig, makeup and," she affected an English accent. "I could speak like a right proper Brit."

"You're good, but not that good. Anyone who knows you, like the Sinclairs, would see right through a disguise." Logan splayed his hand across her belly. "And even if you were pretending to be someone else, there's still Duncan."

"And you don't trust him with me."

"Hell no. This is the guy who went to your job every day for three months straight and sat there for hours in his effort to win you back. It didn't matter that we were dating; just like it doesn't matter to him that we're married."

"It wasn't every day and he wasn't trying to _win me back_. I'm not a prize in a contest." He slid his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back. Leaning in close, he studied first one side of her face, turned her head and inspected the other side. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for the Duncan-sized blind spot you still seem to have."

She pulled her chin out of his hand. "You're not funny you know."

"I'm not laughing Veronica." Logan popped off the sofa like he was on a spring and then started pacing. "When you thought he killed Lilly, did you go to the cops and turn him in? No. When he kept Meg's pregnancy a secret from you, did you break up with him? No. When you thought he might have slept with Kendall, did you install a tracker on his car or bug his room? No." He stopped moving. "I can keep going if you haven't seen the pattern yet."

It wasn't difficult to spot his _let's compare your treatment of Duncan to your treatment of me_ pattern. "That was a long time ago."

"Yet you believe his plan is him trying to be helpful." He shook his head. "He's the one who suggested you work undercover at Kane Software in the first place. It's The Hut only in reverse- this time he gets you to spend every day at _his_ job. How many other clients tell you how to run an investigation?"

"Why didn't you say any of this then?"

Logan rubbed the back of his neck. "Because you turned him down."

When her father asked '_and Logan's okay with that_,' apparently the answer should have been a resounding _no_. "I love you Logan and I swear if this case wasn't about finding out who killed Lisa and put Mac in a coma, I would walk away. It's not about Duncan."


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

After a yawned, '_Logan, I'm not nineteen anymore either_,' he took pity on her and tabled last night's discussion, _'you're tired; let's just go to bed and talk about this tomorrow.' _She didn't think she'd be able to sleep, but she was wrong. She'd curled against Logan's side, put her head on the pillow and… _say goodnight, Veronica_.

The smell of bacon woke her. Rolling over, she glanced at the clock. It was almost nine, which meant Logan got up with Wyatt hours ago. _Good man_. She didn't know what magic he used to keep their daughter from storming the bedroom, but her body was grateful. She felt better this morning. Indulging in a little more _me time_, she took a long, hot shower before getting dressed.

Logan's question last night_, how many other clients tell you how to run an investigation_, helped her to refocus. Not only had she willingly gone along with Duncan's plan for Lisa to work undercover, but since the accident, she kept trying to work the case from that angle. It all felt frustrating and stale because she was following in Lisa's footsteps instead of tackling the investigation her way. She needed to start fresh and the first thing she had to do was tell Duncan no.

_'I'm not okay with this…I need you to not do this.'_ It wasn't an outrageous or unreasonable request. Logan wasn't asking her to give up the investigation; he was only telling her how he felt and she needed to respect his feelings. She knew if the situation was reversed and he had to cozy up to one of his exes, she wouldn't like it. Veronica grinned. _Not like it? I'd be buying that piano wire_.

She finished dressing and left the bedroom. The magic Logan used to keep the baby from waking her was transplanting the gate from Wyatt's bedroom door to the start of the hallway. She opened the gate and peeked into the kitchen. Her two favorite people were sitting on the floor playing Roll and Play. Logan tossed the colorful plush cube across the floor, bouncing it off the kitchen cabinets. "What color is it?"

"Lellow."

"Okay, find Daddy a yellow card."

The tip of Wyatt's tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on shuffling through the cards to find a yellow one. She passed it to Logan. "Read, Daddy."

"It says make a happy face." He smiled at her and she gave him an answering grin.

"Me turn." She grabbed the cube with both hands and tried to mimic Logan's craps-style roll. "Gween!" She shuffled through the cards again and handed it to him.

Logan held it out for her to see. "It says we have to roar like a lion. Can you roar?" Wyatt shook her head. "Sure you can. Rawwrr!"

"Rawwrr!" She ruined her "roar" by giggling in the middle of it, but it was still pretty good. _Or maybe I'm just biased._

"That was a great roar, sweet pea."

Both heads turned toward Veronica. "Mama!" Wyatt immediately patted the floor next to her. "Come p'ay." Logan didn't look as welcoming as their daughter.

Veronica kissed the top of Wyatt's head. "I thought I smelled bacon?"

"You did, but when you decided to take a Hollywood shower, we ate it all."

"It's sexy when you speak Navy to me." She leaned over to kiss him and he offered her his cheek. _Ouch_. A good night's sleep helped clear her thoughts and made her feel better, but apparently it didn't do anything for her out-of-control hormones. Turning away before he could see the tears, she opened the fridge and buried her head inside.

"Veronica, the plate of bacon is in the microwave."

She just nodded and continued to rummage through the shelves. Cradling the carton of eggs in the crook of her arm, she balanced a stick of butter, a navel orange, the container of strawberries and a yogurt on top and then grabbed the gallon of milk. Closing the door with her hip, she carried her food to the counter.

"P'ay, Daddy."

"In a minute, jellybean." Logan placed his palm against the small of Veronica's back and with his other hand turned her face toward him. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were troubled. "Hey…what's wrong?"

"Nothing; I'm just hungry."

With his thumbs he brushed the tears from her lashes. "Why don't you play with Wyatt and I'll make you whatever this—" He pointed at the odd food choices. "—is supposed to be."

The _'no thanks_' was right on the tip of her tongue and she held it back. Even though he was touching her, there was a mile of space between them. She knew what he was doing- retreating in an attempt at self-preservation, but she wasn't going to allow it. Sliding her arms around his waist, she squeezed his middle and rested her head on his chest. Automatically his arms encircled her, pulling her tighter. "I love you."

Logan laid his head on hers. "I love you too Veronica."

"Much better." She pulled her torso back just far enough to see his face. "Kiss?" She tapped her lips. "I brushed my teeth and everything." Opening her mouth wide, she chomped her teeth for his inspection.

A smile teased the corners of his lips as he bent his head to kiss her. "Mmm minty fresh." Her stomach growled and he chuckled. "I guess Morgan is hungry."

"Morgan?"

"Wyatt Earp's brother."

"A-ha so you agree, it's a boy."

He shook his head. "It's a girl. I just thought it would save us time if we picked unisex names. Dylan, Sawyer, Ryder, Billie."

Veronica took a loaf of bread from the breadbox and put two slices in the toaster. "You got Wyatt; we're not having a Billy."

"Not from Easy Rider; Billie as in Holliday." He was the picture of innocence.

"Uh-huh. I'm sure that's what you meant." She hip-checked him. "Go back to playing your game." Putting two eggs in a pot of water, she set it on the stove to boil and started humming. "_Mama may have, Papa may have, but God bless the_—" She abruptly stopped singing when she realized it was a Billie Holliday tune.

Logan laughed and tried to disguise it as a cough. "Come on Wy, now that Mommy's awake, we can get you ready for Nana Dot and Grandpa."

She stopped buttering her toast. "Nana Dot and Grandpa?"

"They're taking her to Dog Beach with Partner and—"

"Puppy!" Wyatt clapped. Veronica grinned at the term _puppy_. The Bull Mastiff was already taller than Wyatt and weighed more than double.

"And then they're going for lunch at C.H.U.C.K—"

She held up her hand so he wouldn't have to spell the entire thing. "Got it and where are you going to be?"

"With you."

"Oh? And where am I going?"

"I don't know, Veronica; you tell me." The playful, teasing voice was gone. He was looking for an answer to their conversation from last night.

She smiled at him. "I'm going to let you hold my purse while I shop for a new dress at the mall." At his confused look, she stood on her toes and gave him a light kiss. "You're going to like it, I promise."

Wyatt's voice traveled down the hall from her bedroom. "Daddeee." It was the over excited, happy call with the elongated vowels.

"Guess I shouldn't have mentioned the puppy." He gave her one last look before going to get Wyatt ready for her day with Grandpa and Nana Dot.

Veronica peeled her hardboiled eggs, added them to the plate of toast and sliced up her orange. Carrying the plate into the dining room, she booted up her laptop while she munched on a slice of toast. She'd rejected the idea of asking Clarence to loan her one of his people for her computer searches, but she still needed to find someone and there were only two people she knew with those kind of skills. One of them was lying in a hospital bed.

"Veronica Mars are you looking at porn?"

She gave him a distracted nod. "I need to find—"

"My birthday present?" He put his hands on her shoulders and ducked down until his head was level with hers.

"Well now that you've spoiled the surprise." She tapped the screen. "Do you want the sexy redhead or the sultry brunette?"

"Neither." Logan kissed her neck. "I already have a sassy blonde."

"That was the right answer by the way." She clicked on the contact us link and navigated away from the pictures of Netrotica's featured actresses. "I'm trying to find Max Rosen."

"Why do I know that name?" He sat in the chair next to her.

"Hearst." Veronica lowered the computer screen and looked behind her. "Where's Wyatt?"

"Picking out a tutu for Partner."

The idea of their daughter trying to get a tutu on that massive dog made her grin. "My dad is going to love that." She lifted the screen and pulled her pad closer. After writing down the address and phone number for Netrotica, she shut down the computer. "Max used to date Mac."

Logan nodded. "I remember. You tried to find his hooker and he helped with my grade my ass website."

"Grade my ass? Do I even want to know?"

"It was for my business class." He ignored her skeptical look. "He works in porn now?"

"Not works, owns. It's the porn version of Netflix- DVD delivery, streaming video; they even have a film studio to make their own movies."

"My wife, the porn connoisseur; I'm shocked and a little turned on."

"Now I'm shocked." He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "That you're only a _little_ turned on." Logan's smile was slow and _very_ suggestive. Veronica felt an answering flush suffuse her cheeks. _Wyatt's going to be out of the house all afternoon_. She shook her head to clear the thought. "Mac told me about his business."

He sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true."

Like the starting pistol at the beginning of a race, the sound of the doorbell triggered the response of tiny feet running down the hallway and a shouted, "Puppy!"

Logan went to get the door and Veronica jotted a few more notes on her pad before following him. Wyatt was already draped over the dog with her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried in his fur. Partner graciously accepted the attention for a few seconds, but then it was his turn. He jumped up, knocking Wyatt on her butt and started to lick her face. It was cute, but it was Logan's expression that made Veronica laugh. It was a cross between amusement at how happy Wyatt was and panic that this monster dog had its mouth near his daughter.

When the dog pushed her down on her back, Wyatt's smile faded and play time was over for Logan. He stepped forward to rescue her while Keith gave a gentle tug on the leash and commanded Partner to sit. In his over-excitement, it took the dog a while to respond, but Logan had already scooped up the baby and moved her away. Wyatt immediately squirmed free of his arms and went back for the dog. He shook his head and muttered, "Fearless like her mother." It didn't sound like a compliment.

Veronica frowned at him and then turned to Dottie. "Thanks for watching her."

She waved away the gratitude. "It's the best part of my day."

It was Keith's turn to frown. "What about the entire morning spent with yours truly?" He placed a palm on his chest and Dottie rolled her eyes.

"Watching you eat cereal and read the paper was not as entertaining as you seem to think."

His gaze moved from Dottie to Logan and then rested on Veronica. "I don't think either one of them is fully appreciating the Mars charm this morning."

"I'm not immune to the charms of all the Mars women." Logan nudged Veronica and pointed at Wyatt. Their daughter had pushed a bright, lime-green tutu over Partner's head and was trying to wriggle it down the dog's body. "I don't think it's going to fit, jellybean."

She pouted at him. "Daddy do."

Logan crouched down next to her. "I think it looks good right here." He fixed the tutu around the dog's neck and fluffed it out. "Perfect."

Clearly unconvinced by his claim of perfection, Wyatt crossed her arms, tilted her head and stared at him. Keith laughed and clapped Logan on the back. "You better hope the next one's a boy or you're never going to survive."

He smirked. "I think we could have six boys and these two would still run the show."

"You're probably right." Keith wrapped his arm around Veronica's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I'm surprised to see you here kiddo; I thought you'd be settling into your new job at Kane Software this morning?"

His question had Logan on his feet and picking up Wyatt. "Let's go put your sneakers on jellybean."

Correctly reading the tension, Dottie took Partner's leash from Keith. "I'm going to take the dog outside to show off his new tutu." She glanced at Veronica. "Call us when you're ready for Wyatt to come home."

"Way to clear a room Dad; is that another example of the Mars charm?"

"Did you and Logan have a fight? Was it because of my suggestion?" Keith frowned at her. "Because that was all my idea, he had nothing to do with it."

"We're not fighting. Duncan came for dinner last night and, let's just say, it didn't go well, but everything's fine now." _Time for a new subject_. "Does the Sherriff's Department still use the same garage?"

A look of dismay crossed his face. "I hope your question doesn't mean what I think it means."

"I just want to take a little peek."

"Veronica…" The resignation in his voice indicated that he knew it was a losing battle, but it still didn't stop him from trying. "I don't think that's a good idea. Why don't you just ask Norris for the report?"

"You worry too much."

"That's because I have you for a daughter."

She pointed to herself. "Chip," and then she pointed at him, "Old Block."

In spite of himself, Keith smiled. "Who are you calling old?"

Veronica shrugged. "If the orthopedic shoes fit."

Logan chose then to return with Wyatt. He gave her goodbye kisses and passed her to Keith with a diaper bag. "Have fun with Grandpa and Nana Dot."

Veronica took her turn showering their daughter with kisses. "Be a good girl." Wyatt gave them her backwards wave and then blew a loud lip-smacking kiss as Keith carried her out of the house. Veronica sighed. "It always seems too quiet when she's not here."

He nodded. "Or when she's up to something."

A soft smile crossed her face and then slowly faded. She placed her palm against his cheek. "I'm sorry."

Turning his head, he kissed her palm and took her hand. "Why are you apologizing to me?" He searched her face while waiting for an answer.

"Because I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, but yet you still got hurt and for that I'm sorry."

Logan kissed her nose. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have thrown the past in your face; we're not supposed to do that to each other."

She nodded. "Since we're getting so good at this communication thing, want to go for the bonus round?"

"Not without more caffeine."

"Well I suppose at least one of us should get to enjoy a fine mountain roast." On her way to the kitchen, she retrieved her plate from the dining room table. She packaged up the orange slices and eggs, put them in the fridge and got the ginger ale. "Want some toast?" She popped two new slices of bread into the toaster and poured a glass of soda.

Logan nodded at the glass. "Toast and ginger ale?" Opening the microwave, he took out the untouched plate of bacon. "Queasy?"

"A little, I think it was the smell of the egg." His eyes flicked to the calendar on the fridge and she smiled. "My appointment isn't until next week."

"Maybe we should move it up; your morning sickness is supposed to be gone."

"It's only supposed to happen in the morning too, but they lie." Leaning against the counter, she watched him make his coffee. "Do you really think I'm blind to Duncan's faults?"

"You certainly never called him on any of his shit."

Veronica frowned at her glass. She didn't think she possessed a blind spot, Duncan-sized or otherwise. She remembered his passive nature, the ability to live in denial and avoid confrontation at all costs plus the underlying narcissism that made it all about him. Even last night it was '_this is hard_ _for me_._'_ When he wanted to apologize, it was more about salvaging _his_ friendship with Logan than it was for hurting Logan. _Don't forget just being an ass in general, Veronica._ Then there was his comment about ruining Logan's happiness, like it was in his power to effect that change. _But did I say anything about it? No_.

"Your toast is ready."

His words pulled her from her reverie. Forgoing the butter this time, she stuck with the dry toast, which was supposed to help. _Another lie_. "Maybe I just didn't care that much." He raised a brow over the rim of his coffee mug and she clarified. "About Duncan being with Meg or Kendall."

"The jealousy is strong with you, young Skywalker."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "It certainly didn't make me as crazy as seeing you holding hands with Hannah or playing grab-ass with Kendall."

Logan's answering smile was far too smug for her liking, but before she could tell him to check his ego, he asked his own question. "Did you really think his plan would work?"

Veronica frowned at him. "I believe I said it was a shitty idea; there are fewer holes in Swiss cheese. The people on the project aren't local, but with a little office gossip and some questions they'd know who I was in a matter of hours, not days."

"Then why even consider it?"

This was about more than the plan or the investigation. "Logan, I was never going to let anyone think that our baby was his or that I left you for him. You may remember the mention of a disguise?"

"But you were still willing to play Duncan's girlfriend."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is this about you not trusting Duncan? Or do you not trust me? I was only considering the plan to see if there was anything usable in the idea, because…" She turned away and started cleaning the counter. "I'm not fearless."

Logan took the sponge from her hand and tossed it in the sink. "No running, talk to me."

"It's Laurel." His brows knitted in confusion. "She's so sad and lonely. God, Logan, she didn't even know what her mother looked like. If something happened to me, Wyatt wouldn't even remember me and I wouldn't get to see her grow up." He pulled her flush against him and wrapped his arms around her. "I love my job, but…and what about Mac? Someone tried to kill her over a computer? What if they try again? The Sherriff's Department thinks it was a traffic accident."

"Veronica, no one is asking you to quit your job. You don't have to feel guilty for loving it and you're damn good at it." He gripped her shoulders and pulled back. His eyes locked on hers. "And I do trust you."

"That's the right answer again- you're really on a roll today."

"I'm wise beyond my years."

"And conceited beyond your attributes." Her smile softened the wisecrack and she gave him a quick kiss. "I'm not going to do it; go undercover at Kane Software or pretend to be Duncan's girlfriend."

"What _are_ you going to do?"

"You're rich, right?"

"Last time I checked. Why? Have you spent all my money or donated it to some charity? Save the…insert name of newly endangered species, here."

"No, but we are going to invest…in Kane Software."


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

"I thought you said I was going to like this? In fact, I believe you _promised_ that I would. I expected sex in the dressing room or at the very least a peep-show and some heavy-petting."

"No, I said I'd let you hold my purse." She tapped her bag. "Purse." Then she pointed at him. "You, holding." Turning back to the full-length mirror, she sulked. The emerald green shirt dress was loose and covered with a chiffon overlay. It didn't make her look pregnant, just fat. "Maybe I should try the red one again?" He shook his head. "Why? What was wrong with the red one? Aside from the fact that I looked like _The Blob_?"

"I didn't say that."

"You were thinking it."

"I really can't win here, can I?" He rummaged through the pile of discarded dresses on the bench next to him. "I liked this one."

"It's strapless and short."

"I know." Logan waggled his eyebrows. "And your boobs looked fantastic."

She frowned. "Are you channeling Dick?"

"When we're talking about my wife's boobs, don't ever bring up Dick, okay? Well, unless it's my—"

"Logan!" Veronica's eyes darted around the department store to see if anyone was nearby and able to overhear their conversation.

"Hmm, I believe you're now the color of the dress in question." He held up the short cocktail dress. "Yep, almost a perfect match."

"Gimme that." Veronica yanked the dress out of his hand and stormed off for the dressing room. "Don't think you've won." She called from inside.

"I'm paying no attention to the flustered blonde behind the curtain."

When she stepped out of the dressing room, he was waiting patiently on the bench for her, but the pile of discarded dresses was gone. It was a clear indication that he thought he won the dress conversation. _Cocky bastard_.

Veronica turned to the mirror. The blush colored dress molded itself to her chest and clung to her curves. Its empire-waist and the soft folds of its silk skirt definitely made her look pregnant instead of fat. She glanced at Logan's reflection; his eyes were taking a slow trip up the length of her body. _The man could make a sack of potatoes feel sexy_. "I think that since you've been so patient—" She flashed him her best come-hither smile as she sauntered back toward the fitting room, "—you deserve a reward."

He was out of his seat in an instant and started to follow her. "Now we're talking."

At the doorway, Veronica put a staying hand on his chest to keep him from entering. "How do you feel about a Cinnabon?" She pulled the curtain closed leaving him outside and blocking his view.

"Tease." As soon as she wriggled out of the dress and it hit the floor, the curtain rustled and Logan was inside. His hands smoothed down her bare back, pulling her close and he pressed his mouth to hers. "This is more like it."

The first kiss was a quick little peck, but with each subsequent kiss they grew longer and more intense. When he finally released her mouth, she rested her forehead against his chest. Logan slid his hands over her ass and gripped her thighs. Knowing what he intended; Veronica pointedly looked around the dressing room. "It's kind of a tight fit."

"You know what else is a tight fit?" The coarse innuendo was a husky whisper against her ear.

She playfully swatted his arm. "You're terrible."

"No actually I'm quite good." He lifted her off the floor and she wrapped her legs around his hips. "Want me to prove it to you?"

"I think you already did that before we left the house."

"You think? You don't remember?" Logan sucked her neck. "Perhaps you need a refresher."

"What I need," she cupped his face and kissed him. "Is for you to go out there," another kiss, but a little longer this time. "And let me get dressed; we have things to do today and I want to stop at the toy store."

Reluctantly, he put her back on the floor. "I didn't realize they had an adult toy store in the mall?"

"You wish. I want to get Move and Groove for Wyatt; teach her some killer dance moves." She started to bob her head and flap her arms. "A little funky chicken and maybe the robot."

Logan laughed. "Can I film it and put it on YouTube?"

"No." Veronica pushed him out of the fitting room and got dressed. After paying for the dress, they detoured through the food court for a Cinnabon before stopping at the toy store for Wyatt. Logan limited the number of cinnamon rolls she could get and she limited the number of toys he could buy. "You're not fooling me; I know that train set is for you and Grandpa."

Logan grinned at the accusation. He started to load the bags into the trunk of the car. Holding up the one from Modish Maternity, he asked, "So when do you think I'll be seeing you in this dress again?"

Veronica shrugged. "I guess that depends on Duncan."

"What does Duncan—" he closed the trunk "—have to do with our sex life?"

"Huh?" She paused with her hand on the car door. "Who said anything about sex?"

"Please, Veronica. You saw you in that dress; the sex was a given."

She ducked her head and smiled. "Maybe I'll try it on again later; you know, because sometimes things look different at home…I think it's the lighting."

"Good idea." He tore his eyes away from her. "Kane Software next?"

She nodded and slid into the passenger seat. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and tried to dislodge the images of later. _Focus on the case, Veronica_. Research, she did research earlier while Logan was getting ready. "Do you know that corporate espionage isn't illegal? That in fact, it happens all the time; Proctor & Gamble tried to steal shampoo formulas from Unilever, Volkswagen swiped plans from General Motors, a lot of corporate spies run legitimate businesses."

"Are you trying to find me a new job?" He started the car. "I could be a spy; I even have the tux for it." He glanced at her. "But I draw the line at dumpster diving."

Veronica turned her head to smile at him. "It's good to know you have a line."

"One of us has to."

She slapped her knee and gave him a hearty fake laugh. "If the spying thing doesn't work out, you can always be a comedian."

"See, I knew you found me funny."

"Looking." She frowned. "As long as you haven't signed a non-disclosure agreement, used fraud, or broke any laws to gather your information you're not going to be doing jail time. Even if our spy _is_ stealing Smartpaper for Microtech, the most that would probably happen to them is a slap on the wrist- fines or maybe a hefty sum in damages."

Logan braked at the traffic light and looked at her. "So how do you jump to murder and attempted murder? What's the rationale behind that? It's like shooting a cop for giving you a jaywalking ticket."

"You might kill the cop if you had an outstanding warrant for something else, something bigger." _Maybe there is more going on at Kane Software than espionage?_ She pointed. "Make a left instead; I want to go to the office first." He did her bidding, made the turn and backtracked to Mars Investigations.

Veronica was surprised to find Paige at her desk. She greeted them with a subdued, "Good morning." Dark smudges under her eyes spoke of little sleep and the lids were puffy from crying. "Any news on Mac?"

Veronica shook her head. "You don't have to be here today, Paige- go home, it's okay. I'll call you if we hear anything new."

"Thanks, but…I think I'll stay."

Logan leaned one hip against the desk and gave Paige a warm, reassuring smile. "Mac's going to be okay."

He sounded so sure, Veronica almost believed him herself. "I won't be long."

She went to her office, started up the computer and crossed to the filing cabinets. Lifting the lockbox out of the bottom drawer, she put it on her desk and then went to the closet to retrieve her Bug Guard. Before having a conversation with Duncan about their plans, she wanted to make sure his office wasn't wired for sound and that they wouldn't be overheard. She pocketed a few listening devices of her own and then returned to her desk.

Her resume was in a computer file labeled personal, she opened it and made a few minor adjustments; changing her last name, removing Mars Investigations, adding her Juris Doctor and admission to the California State Bar. She frowned at the address and phone number. Removing the address entirely, she put in the phone number for one of the office's dedicated lines and then created an email address to use. She sent the resume to the printer and recorded a greeting on the phone line.

Retrieving her keys from her purse, she opened the lockbox and took out her H&K P30 handgun; it was a variant three with a safety. It was unloaded, but she racked back the slide just to double-check that there wasn't a bullet in the chamber. She stared at the 9mm and thought about putting it away. It was going to be difficult for her to carry. Wearing a belt holster around her belly was out and a shoulder holster was going to be too uncomfortable. Putting it on her ankle would be downright amusing as she tried to bend over to get it and she couldn't just toss the thing in her purse. Sighing, she put it back in the lockbox and took the entire thing with her.

Veronica walked out of her office into the middle of Paige's conversation with Logan and caught the tail end of her sentence. "—calls him a two-ten?"

Logan smirked. "A two-six-ten, it means he's lazy." He shook his head. "Jake and Nick are very different people."

"Feel like doing a little work?" At Paige's nod, Veronica handed her the resume. "Call Microtech Systems and pretend to be an employment agency with a…" Her voice trailed off at the anxious expression on Paige's face. "It's okay; I'll do it." Using her cell to look up Microtech's number, she picked up the desk phone and dialed.

With a nasally, raspy smoker's voice Veronica asked for human resources. "This is Eileen at Core Staffing and I found the perfect person for that job in your legal department. Her name is—" The woman on the other end cut her off: _'we're not looking for anyone in legal.'_

"Are you sure? Her name is Veronica Echolls and she's an ideal—" She rolled her eyes as human resources blathered on about not having an opening. She finally interrupted. "Look honey, somebody from _your_ department called _me_ to find a placement." She made a few sympathetic noises as the voice on the other end complained: _how am I supposed to do my job when they never tell me anything?_

"Just give me your fax number and I'll send over the resume. You're going to love Veronica- hardworking, overachiever type." She scribbled the fax number on a slip of paper. "Thanks, dear; you're a doll."

Logan was shaking his head as she hung up the phone. "You're very scary, Miss Hardworking Overachiever."

She grinned. "You love it." She gave the number to Paige. "Fax my resume over to them and remember to change the header on the machine to Core Staffing. Oh and line three is setup to be my home number so don't answer it just let it go to voicemail."

Paige was wearing a stunned expression. "I'm glad you made that call; I wouldn't have been able to do that."

"Stick with me kid and one day you too will be able to frighten big, strong men twice your size." She grabbed the lockbox. "I'll check in later and let you know about Mac."

Logan followed her from the office. "Microtech?"

"I don't really want to work there; I'm just hoping for an interview and a chance to look around." After storing the lockbox in the trunk, she climbed into the car. "A two-six-ten?"

"It will take two hours and six surgeons to remove my size ten boot from your ass; it's an _incentive_ for a slacker to get working."

"Was the surgery painful?" He frowned at her. "Just saying, I seem to remember a tee shirt worn by a certain someone—" she fake-coughed _you_ "—that proudly labeled the owner a slacker."

"Ah, the good old days; existing only on my wealth and charm."

She patted his leg. "Well, at least you still have your wealth."

"For now." He took her hand and laced their fingers together. "Are we actually going to buy stock in Kane Software? Prison for insider trading wasn't in my future plans."

"Do I feature in these future plans of yours?"

"Prominently." Raising her hand to his mouth, he kissed her fingers.

It was a short drive to Kane Software. The monolithic black granite K with the name Kane written down its stem still stood in front and the exterior of the building was the same, but she couldn't remember the last time she was actually inside. _Maybe when I was trying to find Amelia for Abel Koontz? _

The interior hadn't undergone any changes either and it was like stepping back into the past. _No money for renovations. _The same floor plan would make her next step easier. They stopped at the U-shaped wood reception desk. "We're here to see Duncan Kane."

"And you are?"

"Logan and Veronica Echolls." From the corner of her eye, she caught Logan smile at the names she gave.

He might have been happy with the name choice, but at the mention of _Echolls_, the receptionist's demeanor went from pleasant to frosty. "Do you have an appointment?" _Aaron Echolls accused murderer of Lilly Kane. The receptionist has probably been around as long as the ugly sculptures and dated décor._

"No, we're… can you just tell him we're here, he'll see us." She'd decided against calling him with an advanced warning of their arrival. It was better this way; her and Logan, here _together_ to tell Duncan what they'd decided. "Is there a bathroom I can use?"

Her lips pursed like she was going to refuse the request. Veronica took a casual step back and rested her hand on her belly. The receptionist's gaze dropped to the baby bump. She emitted a sigh of resignation. "It's down the hall and then a right."

"Thanks." Veronica followed her directions, but instead of making the right for the bathroom, she paused outside the conveniently labeled conference room doors. Glancing back toward the desk, she made sure no one was watching and ducked into the room.

The bugs she normally used were voice activated and would send her a text whenever sound was present, but they only had a battery life of nine days. She didn't know how often the conference room was in use and she didn't want to take a chance that the battery would die before she learned anything useful. She walked to the side of the large oval table and reached for the phone in the center. The harmonica bug would allow her to monitor the room and listen to both sides of any phone conversations; plus, as an added bonus the electrical power in the phone would keep the bug going indefinitely. _The energizer bunny of listening devices._ Veronica put the phone back together and returned it to its original spot. _One down, three more to go_.

Opening the door a crack, she checked the hall and exited the room. By the time she rejoined Logan in the reception area, he was waiting with a short, grey-haired woman who was wearing tortoiseshell glasses and a scowl. "You were gone awhile- feeling okay?" His tone was serious, but there was a flash of amusement in his eyes. Clearly he knew she was up to something and it wasn't a trip to the bathroom.

Veronica nodded. "Much better now; thanks for asking, _honey_."

"Of course, _darling_." It was difficult to maintain a straight face at his use of the endearment, but she managed it. Logan held out his arm. "Shall we?"

"Let's." She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and they followed their hostile escort. Duncan wasn't using his father's old office; he was in the room next door. If she had to guess, she'd say it wasn't for sentimental reasons, but because Charles Shepherd was already occupying that space.

The lack of funds didn't stop them from upgrading the executive offices. _It's Neptune, Veronica; of course, the rich can't work in squalor_. The modern furniture was a mix of exotic wood, glass and steel with soft edges and fluid shapes. Wyatt would find it all very confusing and unidentifiable, but the overall effect was soothing. As they walked in the door, Duncan stood to greet them. "I didn't expect—"

Veronica held up a hand to silence him. "We heard you were back in town and thought we'd stop by to say hello." Both men stared at her in confusion. "How long has it been? Twelve years?" She pulled the Bug Guard out of her purse and cradled it in her palm so it wouldn't be obvious.

Logan clued in to what she was doing. He shook Duncan's hand and gave him a one-armed hug. "It's really good to see you, man."

The unit was designed to detect all types of devices. If the numbers stopped low between 86 and 110 it was an FM listening device; if it stopped at 398.60 there was a UHF listening device and if it shot up between 900 and 2,400 there was probably a wireless video hidden somewhere. The room was clean. She turned off the machine and slipped it back in her purse, but she didn't drop the ruse. "How's Lilly?"

"Uh, Laurel, we had to change her name when we moved."

Veronica picked up his phone and took it apart. "Thirteen this year, right?" She turned her back to Duncan so he couldn't see her plant the bug. Putting the phone back together, she returned it to his desk. "I needed to make sure there were no listening devices."

He frowned. "Are there?"

"Nope, all clear." She took one of the visitor's chairs. "But when we're done here, I'd like to check out Charles Shepherd's office and the R&D department." There was no point asking to see the actual lab where they were building the Smartpaper prototype since it was protected by a Faraday cage, but she did want to hear what else was going on in research and development.

Duncan nodded at her and turned to Logan. "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't really think it through and what it would mean." He shrugged. "I just wanted to help."

Logan avoided eye contact and kept his expression impassive. He acknowledged the apology with a jerk of his head and took the chair next to Veronica. She knew he wasn't buying it and neither was she. The words Duncan used were _I've been giving this a lot of thought_ and he'd outlined the plan with enough detail to prove it; there was no way he didn't realize what it would involve. "Logan and I discussed it and we agree that it's not the right decision for our family."

She studied Duncan's face as she delivered the news. He didn't seem overly disappointed by the decision. "I'm still not comfortable with you coming to work here."

"Veronica isn't going to work here."

His reaction to Logan's words was surprise. "You're not going to investigate?"

An incoming text alert sounded on her phone. "I want you to have Celeste throw another meet and greet on Saturday so that Logan and I can attend."

Duncan frowned. "I don't understand."

"Veronica and I are going to pose as future investors in Kane Software."

"That's not going to work. The investors are all friends of my mothers; she was going to sell them some of her stock to raise capital. No one would believe that she would consider selling to…" An embarrassed flush crept up the back of his neck.

Veronica forged ahead. "You own stock in the company, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"No, Duncan; this is the plan. Logan and I attend the party together as potential investors or you find yourself another investigator."


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Duncan didn't have a choice but to agree with their plan and he promised to call them with the details after talking to his mother.

"I don't think you should tell Celeste we're coming."

Her suggestion flustered him. "I don't know, Veronica; do you really think it's necessary? You know how she feels about surprises."

_You had no problem keeping me a secret once before_. The memory made her frown. She pulled out her cell to buy some time before answering. The earlier text alert was a message from her dad: _bringing Wyatt home now- call me when you get a chance_. Veronica stood. "It's up to you whether you tell her we're coming or not, but the plan has to stay between us. As far as Celeste knows, we're there as investors, nothing more."

It was his turn to frown. "You don't think my mother…she's not stealing from her own company."

"The fewer people who know what I'm doing, the better." _I would've been happier not telling you_. "Or, is my safety no longer a concern for you?"

"Of course it is, but Celeste wouldn't—"

"Your mother hates me, Duncan." From the expression on his face, she didn't need to remind him exactly how much Celeste hated her. While she didn't really believe Celeste would hurt her, Veronica didn't trust her either. Her eyes narrowed. "Does she already know about the investigation?"

"Not exactly."

"It was a yes or no question. Does she know you hired me to look into the espionage or not?"

"I told her I was hiring _somebody_; I just didn't say it was you."

"Good, let's keep it that way." To avoid further discussion, she started for the door. She paused with her hand on the knob and glanced back at Duncan. "You were going to take us next door and then to research and development."

"Right." Circling his desk to join her, he reached out to put a guiding hand on the small of her back. Veronica took a step away and collided with the solid chest of her husband who immediately slid his arm around her waist. Duncan was staring at them. More specifically he was staring at Logan. He offered a slight nod and Logan kissed the top of her head. It was as if an entire conversation passed between the two men with those simple gestures.

Duncan walked the few feet down the hall to Jake's former office and knocked.

"Come in." It was a deep, authoritative baritone and Veronica frowned. _Planting this bug just got harder_. The three of them traipsed into the room. It was the antithesis of Duncan's modern, fluid space. From the mahogany desk to the barrister bookcases and leather chairs with nail-head trim, Charles Shepherd's office shouted traditional executive. He was waiting expectantly for them to give a reason for their visit. "Did you need something?"

When neither Logan nor Duncan said anything, Veronica stepped forward. "We're old friends of Duncan's and he's giving us a tour." She held out her hand and Charles stood to shake it. "Veronica Echolls and this is my husband, Logan."

If the name meant anything to him, he gave no indication. He turned to shake Logan's hand. "It's a pleasure."

Her cell was still in her hand. While Charles was busy greeting Logan, she tapped the sound icon and the text alert to make her phone chime. She studied the screen for a minute. "It says I have no service." Holding the phone aloft, she walked closer to the windows and the desk like she was looking for a signal. "I don't suppose… would it be okay if I used your phone? I need to call the sitter."

"Of course." His smile was distant and polite. "Boy or girl?"

"Girl, she's two." Veronica waved at his chair. "May I?" Without waiting for his assent, she settled herself behind the desk. "Do you have any kids?"

"A boy and a girl- both teenagers." It was clear from the way he said it that he was not having an easy time with the teenage years. _Maybe you shouldn't have left their mother for a model half your age._

She offered a sympathetic nod. "I say this one's a boy, but my husband insists it's another girl. Don't you honey?" Veronica glanced at the phone and gave Logan a pointed look.

"The show is called _Father Knows Best_ for a reason, dear." Logan grinned at her knowing she couldn't make any snappy comeback without ruining her sweet loving wife routine. He turned back to Charles. "Duncan mentioned an investment opportunity and I've got a few questions."

"Happy to help." His tone was dismissive and Veronica _almost_ felt bad for him.

The shift in Logan's demeanor was instant; gone was the easygoing, affable husband and in his place was the sharp, focused man who knew his way around investments. "How close is Wall Street in estimating your earnings results? Do you think you'll meet the consensus?"

Charles blinked and Veronica bit her lip to keep from smiling. "The analysts are sometimes a little optimistic."

Logan nodded at the answer. "Would you mind walking down to R&D with us? I'd really like to know about your plans to advance the stock."

She was completely forgotten about by the three men as they started to exit the office. _Well, not all three_. Logan held back for a second and turned his head to give her a quick wink.

Once they were in the hall, she heard Charles ask, "Isn't your wife going to join us?"

"She'll be along in a minute." As he was speaking, Logan angled his body to block her from view and gripped the edge of the door. "You know how mothers can get when they're away from the baby for too long. Now tell me more about those earnings results."

Veronica tuned out the answer. She inserted the bug in the phone before Charles decided they shouldn't wait in the hall and then called her dad. He answered on the first ring. "Hey kiddo."

Wyatt was crying in the background. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know; she got cranky at lunch, but the crying didn't start until we got here and you weren't home. Maybe she's a little overtired?"

"Did you try giving her Cuddles?" The stuffed bunny was Wyatt's comfort object.

"We can't find it."

"Sometimes he gets stuck between the rails and her mattress." The baby was a restless sleeper, which meant Cuddles could wind up in many strange places. "Do you want to put her on the phone?"

"That might make it worse." Veronica could see the logic in Keith's statement, but it didn't prevent her from wanting to comfort her daughter.

"I'll wrap this up and come home."

"See you when you get here." Normally, her father would tell her there was no need to rush home and to take her time. The fact that he didn't do that now meant Wyatt was more than cranky.

Hanging up the phone, she joined the men in the hall. "Hate to interrupt, but you're going to have to finish this conversation at another time." She gave Charles a quick smile. "Maybe Saturday at Celeste's party?"

Worry furrowed Logan's brow. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, but we need to head home." She turned to Duncan. "Walk us out?"

Charles nodded at her and shook hands with Logan. "It was very nice to meet you; I look forward to continuing our discussion- Saturday?"

"Saturday," he confirmed. They stepped out of the doorway to allow Charles to return to his office. Once the door was closed, Logan took her hand and started walking for the exit.

_More like pulling me toward the exit_. "Hey Speedy Gonzalez you want to slow down?" Veronica tugged on his hand and his pace relaxed, but he didn't stop. "We still need to see the R&D department."

There was no time for her to finesse the insertion of a bug into one of their phones; she would have to use one of her regular listening devices and hope she learned something before the battery died.

Logan stopped. "I thought we needed to get home?"

A slight twinge of guilt for not rushing right home, assailed her. _It's only an extra five minutes, Veronica; it's not like Wyatt's alone or in danger_. "We do, but I'll be quick." She checked to make sure Duncan was still with them. "Is the Smartpaper lab nearby?"

He shook his head. "Other side of the building. Uh, Veronica, we can't just walk through R&D, you need a better plan than a tour- all its information is confidential."

_Thanks for mentioning that back in your office_. "Who's in charge of the department?"

"Rick Abbott."

"Take us to his office for an introduction." It wasn't ideal. She would've preferred being able to listen in on the actual workers, but it would have to do.

Duncan checked his watch. "He's probably down in the lab or at lunch now."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "That works out better for us don't cha think?"

"I guess." He shrugged and a slight smile tugged the corner of his mouth. "We're not all experts in detective work and undercover spy missions, you know."

Rick Abbott's office was on the ground floor in the opposite direction of the conference room and they had to pass the receptionist desk; she was on the phone, but it didn't stop her from glaring at them as they walked by. "I hope Wyatt didn't inherit that gene from us," Veronica grumbled.

"What do you mean _us_?" Logan smirked. "People love me."

"What people? Where?" She made an exaggerated show of looking for said people; first scanning the hall and then glancing over her shoulder to check the lobby.

"I'm looking at one right now." He tapped her nose. "And really Veronica who else matters?"

"You're such a sweet talker."

"I know." He nodded in agreement. "That's why people like me."

A silver plate bearing the name, Richard Abbott, and his title, Director of Research and Development, in bold, black letters was affixed to the wall at the right of his office door. Duncan rapped on the laminate wood surface. When there was no response, he tried the handle and the door swung open without hesitation. Veronica put a restraining hand on his arm. "You two wait out here."

"So does that make us the lookout now?" Duncan checked both directions of the hall. "Do we need a signal?"

Logan was frowning at him. _Interesting_. "I'll be back in two minutes." Veronica ducked into the office, closed the door and flicked on the overhead lights. Rick was a visual planner. A large white board ate up the entire wall across from his desk. It was divided in columns, each was labeled with the name of a project and beneath it were notes regarding its stage of development. It was all written in some kind of shorthand. She used her cell to take a picture so she could decipher it later.

Veronica shook the mouse to wake up the computer. It was on the login screen and waiting for a password. She flipped through the pages of his desk calendar for any words or numbers that might be his password. An entry on the Friday before the accident read, _'ask Mac tomorrow._' It was either a reminder for him to ask Mac to work on Saturday or he knew she was going to be in the office and had a question for her. She rifled through the drawers, but didn't come up with a password or anything else of interest.

Her two minutes was closer to ten. It was time to finish and go home. She planted the last harmonica bug in his phone, straightened the items on his desk and turned off the lights. When she exited the office, she found Duncan waiting right outside the door and Logan leaning against the wall opposite him; neither of them was talking. Pushing himself off the wall, Logan took her hand and asked, "Ready?"

"One minute." She turned to Duncan. "Do all the employees sign non-disclosure agreements or just those involved with product development?"

"I'm not sure? Everybody, I think, except maybe the secretaries?"

"Find out for me and call me with a time for Saturday." When they reached the main entrance, Duncan offered them a wave goodbye and Veronica stopped him from leaving. Knowing that Logan would have no complaints about Laurel joining them, she was careful with the wording of her question. "Can we take Laurel out on Friday night?"

There was a slight hesitation. "Sure, do you want me to—"

"We'll come by the Grand to pick her up, around five?" He nodded and headed for the elevators.

Logan didn't say anything until they were in the car. "Friday?"

"Fun Bowl, remember? The slip and fall guy? I was going to have my dad go, but" —she shrugged— "I thought Wyatt would like it." Veronica turned her head to study his profile. "You were very quiet in there."

"It's been known to happen."

"When you're asleep maybe," she murmured. "Did something happen with Duncan while I was in Abbott's office?"

He shook his head. "What's going on with Wyatt?"

"Dad said she was cranky at lunch and she was crying when I called. His guess is a little overtired."

Logan picked up on her uncertainty. "And you think it is?"

"Us." She sighed. "You were gone for six months and now I'm back to work full time, we're both stressed about Mac and Duncan, which I'm sure she can sense, plus there's this mysterious baby we keep talking about who isn't her." Veronica frowned. "That's a lot for her to process." _It's a lot for me to process_.

"Glad to see you haven't been thinking about this too much." It was said with a sardonic smile. "What do we do?"

"Is that desert island still an option?"

"Sure- you can handle the case of the missing coconut and I'll build hammocks from palm branches."

"That already solves my first case- you stole the coconut to use its husk for your hammock." She grinned.

"Veronica Mars are you accusing me of evil?"

"No." She shook her head. "Evil would be when you buried all my clothes and turned our island into a nudist colony."

"Who said anything about bringing clothes?" He pulled into the driveway next to her dad's Camry. There was no crying coming from the house. _Maybe they got her down for a nap_?

As soon as they walked into the house, Dottie's shoulders sagged and she gave them a grateful smile. She was kneeling on the floor putting away Wyatt's toys. It looked as if every bin was dumped and scattered across the hardwood. She waved a submarine in the air. "In the bin with vehicles or bath time toys?"

Logan surveyed the destruction. "That bad, huh?" He got on the floor with her. "Let me do this."

Their pint-size little mischief maker was nowhere in sight. "Is she napping?"

"She's in her room with Keith." Dottie offered a half-hearted chuckle. "But I don't think napping is part of her plan for today."

"I better go rescue him." Veronica dumped her bag on the sofa and headed for the back of the house.

She'd only made it halfway down the hall before Wyatt came barreling out of her room. "Mama!" She threw herself at Veronica's legs and squeezed. The force of the impact almost sent them toppling over and Veronica put a hand against the wall to steady herself. "Daddy?"

Picking her up, she snuggled her close. "He's in the living room putting away all your toys." Instead of squirming to get free, Wyatt rested her head on Veronica's chest and sighed. "Were you being a pout-pout fish today?" It was another of her favorite stories; a series of adventures featuring a pouty fish.

The baby shook her head. "No, kiss-kiss fish."

Veronica rested her cheek on the top of Wyatt's head and smiled. "Are you sure you're a kiss-kiss fish?" Her little head bobbed up and down. "Then you know what that means, right?" Her tiny giggle said she did. Lifting her head, she titled it back and closed her eyes waiting for smooches. Veronica peppered her face with loud, lip-smacking kisses. "I love my kiss-kiss fish."

"Mama kiss-kiss fish too." Veronica bent her head forward and closed her eyes so Wyatt could drop tiny kisses all over her face. When she was done, she patted her cheek. "Love Mama."

Keith was standing in the doorway smiling at them. "It warms this old heart to watch the two of you together."

Veronica kissed his cheek. "Sorry it was such a rough day."

"Eh, I've had worse….I raised you, remember?"

"We were this close" —she held up her thumb and forefinger— "to having a Hallmark moment and you ruined it with your lies about me being a difficult child."

"Oh honey, you're _still_ a difficult child."

She walked past him with a huff, carrying Wyatt into her room. The chaos of the living room was a continuing theme, but instead of toys, all her books were off the shelves and the bed was in shambles. Veronica put the baby down. "Okay, first you have to help Mommy put all your books back."

Wyatt folded her arms across her chest and Veronica could almost see the _no_ hovering over her pursed lips. Then abruptly she changed her mind; dropping her arms and tilting her head to the side. "Read 'tory Mama?"

Veronica averted her face so the baby wouldn't see her smile. Kneeling on the floor, she started to stack the books. "Let's put these on the pretty shelves Daddy made you and then we can pick one to read."

Logan had built her corner shelves using white, vinyl rain gutters. They made it easy for her to see the covers of her books, but it also made it easy for her little hands to pull them all down when she was in a pique. The baby took her time studying each one before slowly returning it to a shelf. To speed up the process, Veronica put away the stack she was holding leaving only a handful for Wyatt to shelve.

Getting off the floor, she made the bed and went on a search for Cuddles. "Logan?" By the time he appeared in the doorway, Wyatt was clutching three books to her chest. The meaning of _we can pick one to read_ completely lost on her. "I can't find C.U.D.D.L.E.S."

He nodded and disappeared from view. Wyatt dropped her books to run after him. "Daddy!"

"Easy, Jellybean; I'm just going to get your bunny. Remember we took him fishing with us yesterday?"

Veronica scooped up the three books and followed them. Logan was on the floor rescuing the bunny from under their bed. "Did my dad and Dottie leave?"

"Yeah. Dottie tripped him in her haste to get through the door first, but he tackled her on the porch and beat her to the car." He smirked. "There was a lot of crying and screaming and hair-pulling too. Well, not so much hair-pulling for your dad, but he _was_ sobbing like a baby."

"Amateurs." She kicked off her shoes and stripped out of her jeans. "I think we should all lie down in the big bed and take a nap." Wyatt's eyes narrowed in suspicion, like this was some kind of nefarious plot to make her fall asleep. Veronica yawned. "I'm very tired."

Logan's gaze swung from the baby to her and then back to Wyatt. He shook his head and grinned. "Okay, naptime it is." Taking off his sneakers, he stretched out on the bed and snuggled with Cuddles. Wyatt didn't budge.

Shrugging, Veronica joined him on the bed and handed him the books. She put her head on his shoulder. "Read this one first- it's my favorite."

"It's a good one." Logan opened the picture book. "I see a monster hairy and red. Where is he hiding?"

That was enough. Wyatt climbed on the bed, wiggled up between their bodies and took Cuddles from Logan. She popped her thumb in her mouth and pulled open the flap in the book so Daddy could read the next line. Veronica grinned at Logan and kissed the top of their daughter's head.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It took all three books and a second reading of _Moo Baa La La La_ before Wyatt was completely asleep. Logan carried her to her room while Veronica got redressed. She still needed to go see Max, plus she wanted to stop by the hospital and she had to call Weevil. _Not a good idea to be gone when Wyatt wakes up, Veronica_.

She poked through the contents of the fridge. The only thing she'd eaten today was toast and a cinnamon roll. _Two cinnamon rolls_. How did other women balance motherhood, work, pregnancy and a husband? They all made it look so easy and she was having a hard time remembering to eat. _And I love eating_. She grabbed the kale, pasteurized feta cheese and Kalamata olives from the fridge, found the bacon from this morning and got a can of sardines from the pantry.

When Logan saw the food on the counter, he gagged. "You're not going to eat that are you?"

"It's good for me." She held up the kale. "Iron, Vitamin A and folic acid." Then she pointed to the sardines. "Omega-3 and the feta has protein."

"I would rather eat actual iron and acid."

"And I would rather you be the one who was pregnant, but we can't always get what we want."

"Okay Mick Jagger."

Veronica chopped the kale, added the other ingredients and used some of the olive juice and a lemon as dressing. "I think I'll go see Max in the morning, but I still want to go to the hospital tonight and I have a little field trip to make."

"You make it sound so innocent, but the words little field trip struck terror in my heart."

She shrugged. "Maybe if you didn't know me so well, you'd sleep better at night."

"I sleep just fine." Logan slipped his arms around her waist. "Provided you're right there next to me, snoring and stealing the covers." He kissed her neck. "Tell me about your field trip."

"Later- must have food, now." She removed his arms from her waist and took her salad to the table. After her first bite, any thought of conversation disappeared and all focus was on eating. She didn't lift her head until every last morsel was gone. Dropping the fork, she let it clank against the empty bowl and sat back. Logan was watching her with an amused smile. She ignored him and eyed the fridge, visualizing its contents while trying to decide what to eat next. "Do we have any more of that black bean chili?"

Logan got the container of chili and dumped it in a pot to reheat. Returning to the fridge, he pulled out the oranges and strawberries from this morning along with a lime. He took ice from the freezer and grabbed a banana from the hammock on the counter.

Veronica watched with interest as he squeezed the oranges and the lime directly into the blender. "Whatcha making?"

"A smoothie." He added the rest of the fruit and ice.

"For me?"

He laughed. "Yes, for you." When it was done, he served her a big bowl of chili and the fruit smoothie. "There's still more in the pot if you want it."

"This should be good." She frowned; Logan hadn't eaten lunch either. "You eat it and I'll share my smoothie with you."

"Keep your smoothie; Spencer needs the vitamins." Getting himself a glass of lemonade and the rest of the chili, he joined her at the table.

"As in Spencer for hire?"

Logan shook his head. "As in the First Commander of the Naval Air Station North Island or maybe Ellyson- the Navy's first aviator?"

"Okay."

He choked on his spoonful of chili. "Did you just say okay?"

"I've got to keep you on your toes Echolls. Don't want you to get bored with me being predictable."

"The words predictable and Veronica are antonymous." He frowned. "Which one did you say yes to, Spencer or Ellyson?"

She grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know." Leaving her chair, she straddled his lap and rested her head on his chest. "I love how much time you spend thinking of baby names."

Stroking his hand down her spine, he kissed the top of her head. "And I love you."

"That was some pretty fancy business-speak today with Charles Shepherd." Ever since the baby was born, Logan started taking more of an interest in his trust and its investments: _'I need to think about Wyatt's future,'_ but she was still impressed. "Plans to advance the stock?"

"Those were only generic investor questions; I'll call Tomás this week and have him give me an education on Kane Software and its stock before Saturday's party."

"Speaking of Tomás, I need to call his cousin and see if he's available to join me on my little field trip."

Logan groaned. "Remember the terror in my heart? It just increased exponentially with the addition of Weevil."

Veronica kissed his cheek and climbed off his lap. "It should've _decreased_. I'll have backup and my gun; plus I don't know enough about cars to do this on my own."

Understanding dawned in his eyes and she knew he'd figured out her plan. "Try not to get arrested, okay?"

"You never let me have any fun," she pouted. "Besides you'll come bail us out."

"Weevil, I'll bail Weevil out because he's your unwitting patsy, but you, oh criminal mastermind, are on your own." He thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Hmm, maybe I can add to my Veronica behind bars photo collection."

"One photo, Echolls, you have one."

"That's what I meant by _add to_; I should've had Dick take a picture the last time you were arrested- I hate missed opportunities." He smirked. "I'm hoping to eventually have enough to make a calendar."

She rolled her eyes and picked up her spoon for another mouthful of chili. "Now you know about my plans for tonight; are you going to tell me what Duncan did to make you mad?"

"Exist." He jabbed the chili with his spoon. "He was mocking you and I didn't like it."

"Mocking me?"

Logan nodded, "First with the undercover spy mission crack and then the shot about being the lookout and needing a signal."

"I don't…" His head jerked up and he glared at her. Dropping her gaze to the table, she took a deep breath. With slow, deliberate movements, she placed her spoon down and aligned it with her bowl. "Are you going to get mad at me every time we talk about Duncan?"

"I don't know, Veronica; are you going to defend him every time we talk?"

"What I was _going_ to say is, I don't understand where all this is coming from- the animosity? He was your best friend. Even after finding out that Aaron killed Lilly and when we started dating again, you two were friends. I know it wasn't easy, but the relationship seemed to be important to both of you so…what's changed?"

"Do you want us to be friends? Is that the outcome you're expecting? You'll solve the case and it will be like old times? The three of us eating Chinese and watching The Big Lebowski on Friday nights?"

"Forget it, Logan. I'm going to check on Wyatt and call Weevil."

"Wait" —he grabbed her hand to keep her from leaving— "I'm sorry I snapped at you." His soft brown eyes entreated her to stay and finish their conversation.

Veronica pressed her palm to his cheek. "Willing to try this again?"

Nodding, he let go of her hand and got up from the table. "You're what changed." He dropped his bowl in the sink. "I'm not jealous. I know you love me Veronica." He leaned against the cabinets, arms at his side and curled his fingers around the edge of the countertop. "I know things now that I didn't know back then and I don't like how he treats you."

"Which is how exactly?"

"It's all about Duncan. Well that's not really new is it?" He shook his head. "I was a selfish prick back then too so I didn't pay much attention to it, but after our summer together" —he pointed at her and then himself— "it was hard not to notice."

"I'm well aware of Duncan's passive nature and that his first thoughts are always about himself." She smirked. "And let's not forget his tendency to shirk responsibility and let others take the blame. Until yesterday, I thought it was _your_ idea to toss me in the pool after Winter Formal."

Logan closed his eyes and a slow smile spread across his lips. "I'll go back to taking the blame for that idea. That dress was _very_ thin."

"Perv."

His eyes popped open. "What? Can't a man fantasize about his wife? It was better than a wet tee shirt contest."

"I wasn't your wife then."

He shrugged. "It was only a matter of time." Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close. "Those few months when you got back together with Duncan were torture for me. I hated seeing you with him; not only because I wanted you with me, but because of how he treated you. Keeping you a secret from his parents, dismissing your ideas about the bus crash, hiding Meg's pregnancy, doing whatever it was that he was doing with Kendall and trying to…_mold_ you into his ideal Veronica."

She tilted her head back to see his face. "Did he tell you all that? I mean about the keeping me secret and the bus crash?"

"We were friends remember? We talked. He told me you were investigating the bus crash, but he made it seem like it was a _hobby._ It was as if he'd completely forgotten _you_ were the one to solve Lilly's murder." He shrugged. "The only times he ever seemed to take you seriously were when he needed something from you. Otherwise, it was my girlfriend's a detective, wink, wink."

"That's why his comments today pissed you off."

"Yes. It's also why I was so angry with you back then." Logan chuckled. "Okay, I was angry because I was jealous as hell, but I also didn't like what you were letting him do to you. I could almost _see_ the effort you were exerting trying to pretend that everything was normal and perfect." He kissed the top of her head. "Then when he ran away with Lil…Laurel and left you here holding the bag, I wanted to track him down just to beat the shit out of him."

"I didn't really do that for him." She took a step back. "Did Duncan know about Aaron? What he was doing to you? I know you said you kept it from Lilly, but what about Duncan?"

"Not the details, but some of it." At her doubtful look, he smirked. "We didn't exactly sit around braiding each other's hair spilling our deepest secrets while reading Cosmo and talking about the cute girls in class."

"No" —she grinned— "You did that with me and Lilly."

"Are you still mad that I can do a French braid better than you can?" Logan kissed her nose. "Because you have got to let that go."

"It's cute that you think that's true." Veronica rested her head on his chest. "The Mannings were going to get custody. Since Duncan was never married to Meg, he didn't have any legal right to Laurel."

Logan took hold of her shoulders and pulled back; his eyes probing hers. "So when Wyatt was born, I didn't have any legal right to her?"

"No, that's why we both had to sign a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity; so your name could go on her birth certificate. Meg wasn't able to do that, which meant Duncan would've had to get a court order to establish his rights before he could even fight for custody."

"A paternity test would've proved she's his daughter. Why not do that? Why give up your entire life and flee the country?"

"His parents didn't want to help and the Mannings knew about his violent episodes- it was going to be a long, ugly battle and he had no money to fight it." Veronica rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. "They're abusive, Logan. The Mannings abused their kids and Meg made me promise that if something happened to her, I wouldn't let them get her baby."

His shoulders slumped and he turned away. "Fuck," he spit the expletive out from between clenched teeth. "Is your dad the only decent parent in Neptune?"

"Hey, don't forget the two of us." Veronica placed her hand on his arm. "I'd say we're better than decent."

"Yes, but we don't live in Neptune, remember? We're Neptune adjacent."

Standing on her toes, she kissed his jaw. "I'm going to call Weevil; will you get the bags from the trunk?"

"Already done, they're on the dining room table and I put your gun in the safe." Logan had a biometric gun safe installed in their bedroom closet. It was bolted to the floor and could only be opened with either his or her thumbprint. The safe was designed to keep his gun out of the baby's reach, but still be easily accessible if they needed it in an emergency and Veronica hated it. _But if it was a little bigger, I could hide Wyatt's birthday presents in it._

That thought immediately dissipated when she saw the amount of packages on the table. _Either the toys multiplied in the trunk or Logan added more to the cart when I wasn't looking_. She sorted through the bags. He got her the Little People pig pen, chicken coop and tractor to go with her barn. More farm animals, the Little People airplane and helicopter, another pout-pout fish book and the train set. _We're going to need another house just for her toys_. "Logan."

"You rang?"

Veronica waved her hand over the boxes. "Explain."

"They're what you call toys." He grinned. "She'll only turn two once and she loves her little people." He started stacking the boxes. "I'll put these in the garage with the rest of her presents."

"The rest?" She shook her head and sighed. Snagging the box with the Move and Groove game for them to play later, she let him take the rest for hiding in the garage without any further protest. He loved buying her presents, but he was so good about reserving the purchases for birthdays and Christmas _and_ keeping the gifts reasonable that she couldn't deny him the privilege of spoiling their daughter twice a year.

Taking the bag with her dress, she retrieved her purse from the sofa and headed for the bedroom. Veronica checked on Wyatt. She was curled in the corner of the mattress with her feet sticking through the bars of the guardrail. Her mouth was open and she was softly snoring. Cuddles was dangling over the edge, his ear clenched tight in Wyatt's fist and all the blankets were on the floor. _Restless sleeper_.

Veronica went to her room and closed the door behind her as not to disturb the baby. After hanging up her dress, she called Weevil. "Hey buddy."

There was an almost inaudible groan. "You're tilting your head aren't you?"

"No." She straightened her head. "Whatcha doing later?"

"I _was_ going to have a beer and watch the game, but now I'm thinking I'll be doing something slightly more dangerous and highly illegal with this nutty blonde I know."

"Nutty blonde? She sounds great; when do I get to meet her?"

A loud, exaggerated sigh from the other end of the line, "You know sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I never met Veronica Mars."

"Do I have to make you watch It's A Wonderful Life again? Without me, Mr. Potter would own your shop and you'd be a lonely, old maid."

"Right and Harry would've fallen through the ice."

Veronica grinned. "I _knew_ you liked the movie, you old softie."

"Not me, Valentina liked it."

"Uh-huh, sure." Valentina didn't look like she was enjoying anything this past Christmas let alone a movie. It was a rough holiday for her- the first, since Jade and Weevil's divorce became final and she had to split the day between her parents. "So, uh, do you have Valentina this weekend?"

"Yeah I pick her up Thursday night." The sadness in Weevil's voice was unmistakable. He was having a hard time adjusting to visitation.

Veronica could relate. She left the bedroom and peeked in on Wyatt one more time. _If I only got to see her on weekends it would kill me_. She returned the door to its partially closed position and walked into her office. "Want to come bowling with us on Friday?"

"Will we be out of jail by then?"

"Do you and my husband work out these routines in advance or are you both naturally gifted at improv?"

"Neither, we just know you."

"Don't worry; Logan promised to post your bail." She shuffled through the files on her desk. Opening the one on the trophy wife, she flipped through the surveillance photos Lisa had taken. "Hey, is Nico Benedetti still running drugs in our fair city?"

"No, forget it; we're not reprising our roles as Rory Gilmore and her sad-sack boyfriend."

"I'm asking strictly for informational purposes." Veronica knew Nico still operated the jazz club where the Seventh Veil used to be because she drove past it on her way to work every morning. No doubt, he wasn't arrested for his mob dealings since Lamb was _never_ going to bite the hand that fed him, but did that mean Nico would be in the business of selling coke to a trophy wife? She closed the file. "Actually what I really need is your car expertise, not your acting abilities because, let's be honest, you're no Jimmy Stewart."

"Maybe not, but you ain't exactly Donna Reed."

"Don't tell Logan that because he's getting me the moon for my birthday." Weevil's soft, sarcastic _'aww'_ made her grin. "So, here's what I'm thinking- Mac's car accident? Not an accident and I want to break into the garage to have a look at the Toyota."

"And when you say garage, do you mean the one owned and operated by the Sheriff's Department?"

Ignoring his question, she opened Lisa's personnel file. "Tonight around eight? You can meet me at the hospital and we'll go together."

"Okay, but you'll owe me one."

Veronica frowned. "Who got the charges against you dropped?"

"Who found your missing witness hiding in the barrio?"

"Who gave you the money to reopen your shop?"

He laughed. "Your husband."

The answer had her conceding defeat. "Fine- I'll owe you one." Hanging up the phone, she took both files and went to find Logan. He was in the kitchen trimming the fat off a flank steak. "If you wanted to score some coke where would you go?"

Logan paused mid-cut, slowly put the knife down and turned. "Why are you asking me that?"

"No, it's not…I'm sorry." That part of his past was still a sensitive subject and one he rarely discussed. Veronica put the files on the counter next to him. "It's this case Lisa was working on."

"The slip and fall?"

She shook her head. "Rich husband accused his estranged wife of being a cokehead so he could keep custody of their son. It was one of the cases Lisa turned over to me when she started working for Duncan, but the file was back on her desk when I went to the office yesterday."

"The wife you were following around last week?" At her nod, he asked, "I thought you were going to turn that over to your dad?"

"I was, but then I started thinking—"

"Started? When do you ever _stop_ thinking?"

"I'm going to take that as a compliment and move on." Veronica took down a mug and waved it at him. "Coffee?"

"Okay." He went back to the steak.

She took down another mug; made him a cup of regular and a cup of decaf French Vanilla for herself to which she added a liberal amount of half and half and sugar. "The first part of any homicide investigation is to look at the victim. I've only been focusing on Kane Software, but Lisa was working other cases. Plus there's Lisa herself- her past, her relationships and her elusive family."

"Didn't you run a background check when you hired her?"

Veronica nodded and tapped the personnel file. "We went back five years. She had an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from San Diego State, worked for a private investigator for the required minimum three years before getting her own license and she had no criminal record, obviously." The Department of Justice would've run her prints when she applied for her license and a criminal record would preclude her from being eligible.

"Does this mean you're going to investigate Mac too?"

She watched him pour the pickled jalapenos over the steak while she thought about her answer. There wasn't much about Mac's past she didn't already know; they'd been friends since they were sixteen. Veronica frowned. _The only things in her past that were even remotely dangerous were when she was helping me_. Unless it was something of a more personal nature. _Why was Lauren Sinclair at the hospital? Did she know?_ "When we were in high school Mac had me look into her parents."

"The switched at birth thing?"

Veronica gaped at him. "You know?"

"Mac told me. We were talking about her and Dick and she just came out with it. Said that in some crazy alternate-universe she would've been Madison Sinclair and she wondered if she would've been like her- shallow and bitchy, or if she would've still been Mac." He smirked. "She wondered if she, as Madison, would've dated Dick."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "She was a little drunk and I think she regretted saying anything so I let it go."

"Well do you? Think she would've been like Madison and dated Dick?"

"No and no. I think she would still be the Mac we know and love, but with a different name." He chuckled. "Of course that means your best friend now would be Madison Sinclair."

Veronica shuddered. "That's too horrible a thought to even contemplate." She took a sip of her coffee and stared at Logan. "It also means that you—"

"Let's not even go there okay?" He shook his head. "I just want to make dinner for my wife and daughter, play a board game, watch Peter Pan for the hundredth time and go to bed." Logan turned back to the counter and started slicing a head of cauliflower.

Veronica slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back. "That sounds perfect."


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

They did exactly what he wanted. They hopped like kangaroos, did the Funky Chicken, played air guitar and skipped around the room in a rousing game of Move and Groove. A dinner of carne asada tacos with Spanish rice and fried cauliflower was followed by a bubble bath for Wyatt. After which, Veronica put her in pajamas, piled pillows on the living room floor, made a plate of shortbread cookies and left her watching Peter Pan with Logan.

An entire fun-filled, family evening with no mention of Madison Sinclair, but it didn't mean Veronica wasn't thinking about her. Not the hypothetical if Mac was Madison and vice versa thoughts, but the- does _Madison_ know she was switched at birth kind of thoughts. If she did, when did she find out and what did it have to do with the case, if anything? _Face it Veronica, you were also thinking about seeing her again at Celeste's party_. Duncan said the Sinclairs were at the first party, which is why Lauren came to the hospital with him, but was Madison there too? And, if so, would she be there on Saturday night?

Veronica stopped at Cho's Pizza before going to the hospital. She didn't know if the Mackenzies ate already, but food not from the cafeteria would probably be a welcome relief. She got two pies, soda, garlic knots and asked for paper plates and cups. When she arrived at the hospital, she followed Logan's lead and used the valet service. It was easier than trying to find a spot and haul the food through the parking lot.

Dick was alone in the waiting room. "Ronnie."

She slid the boxes of pizza on the table and put down the bottle of soda. "Where is everyone?"

"I convinced them to go home; told them we should stay in shifts and said I'd call them if anything happened."

"And that worked?"

He shrugged. "I think Sam agreed just to get Natalie some sleep."

"You look like you could use some sleep too."

"Nah, I'm good."

"Pizza?" She opened the box, put two slices on a paper plate and passed it to him. "How's she doing?"

"The swelling is going down, which they say is good, but they're worried about additional clots so they put her in compression stockings."

"She's going to be really pissed they made her wear stockings."

That earned her a half smile. "We'll keep it on the down low." He wolfed down the two slices of pizza and helped himself to another one. "Thanks for the food Rons, I was starving." Dick eyed her belly. "Aren't you eating?"

"I just ate dinner with Logan."

"And? Remember, I've seen pregnant Veronica eat."

"Wow, you must be really tired." She took two slices of pizza and sat at the table with him. "I think that's the first time you've called me Veronica like ever."

"That's what your friends call you…and we're not really that, am I right?"

His statement echoed her thoughts from the other night. No, they weren't really friends, but it seemed they were permanent fixtures in each other's lives; first through Logan and now, apparently, Mac. Instead of addressing the issue, she asked, "So you and Mac are dating again?"

"I don't date, Ronnie." His smile didn't reach his eyes or sync up with the words that came next. "I'm too fucked up for relationships."

Veronica looked around the empty waiting room and took in his disheveled appearance. "But you're here."

"Because she's my friend and I have exactly two of those." He held up two fingers to emphasize the point. "If it was Logan in there, in a coma, I would be here too."

That was yet another hypothetical she didn't want to contemplate. "Friendships are relationships." At his blank expression, she continued. "You've been a good friend to Logan." She'd never realized how good a friend until she read Logan's journal. "So you shouldn't say you're too fucked up- you can change." Veronica frowned. Dick _had_ changed. "What I mean is—"

"Don't sweat it Ronnie; I understand." He put down his empty plate and took a long swallow of his soda. "So…Duncan Kane's back in town" —his gaze was shrewd and appraising— "how's that going?"

The question irked her. "I don't know Dick- maybe you should ask Duncan."

"That's not what I meant."

_No shit_. His question had little to do with Duncan and _everything_ to do with Logan; specifically, how Duncan's return was affecting their marriage. Veronica resented both the underlying assumption and the intrusion. She frowned. _Am I being unfair?_ Logan was his friend and, even though he didn't have a _reason_ to be concerned, he did have the right to look out for him. After all, _Dick_ was the one who had to pick up the pieces when she left Neptune without so much as a goodbye. "Things are fine."

He nodded. "You know Logan loves you, right? I mean like beyond everything else, beyond anyone else- you get what I'm saying?"

It made her think of her earlier conversation with Logan about Duncan: _'I know things now that I didn't know back then and I don't like how he treats you.'_ It shouldn't really be surprising to her; Logan had been defending her ever since their kiss at the Camelot. He'd made it clear from the start of their relationship, _if you have a problem with Veronica, you're pretty much dead to me._ Dick was right. Logan would _always_ choose her; always put her first. "I love him too."

_Am I really having a serious conversation with Dick? Maybe the elevator was a wormhole and I'm in that Mac-Madison alternate universe_. Their relationship consisted of Dick making stupid and inappropriate comments while she rolled her eyes and insulted him. This mature and serious side of Dick was like the Loch Ness Monster; its existence was hinted at and glimpsed occasionally by others, but it remained mostly undiscovered and hidden from view. _Especially my view_. "You should go home and get some sleep."

"I will when Ryan gets back." He helped himself to another slice of pizza. "Why are you out so late anyway; isn't it past your curfew?"

There was the familiar jeering tone; Veronica relaxed. "_Logan_ is the one with a curfew."

"But only when he hangs out with me, right?"

"Well you know what they say about the bad apple spoiling the bunch."

Dick grinned. "That's me, rotten to the core."

Opening the garlic knots, she popped one in her mouth and studied Dick. "Have you seen Madison lately? Is she still in Neptune?"

He laughed. "I love how your mind works Ronnie. All this talk of bad apples and being rotten and _you_ think of Madison." Dick shook his head. "I haven't seen her, but she's around. She's never going to leave Neptune- these are her people."

_Rich, shallow, small-minded_. "So she hasn't been here to visit Mac?"

His look of surprise was answer enough. "Why would Madison care about Mac?" Veronica didn't know if he was implying that Madison wouldn't care about _anybody_ or if she was inferring that because of her own feelings on the subject. "Are you asking because her sister was here?"

_Sure, let's go with that_. She nodded. "Were you able to get guards for Mac's room?"

"Yeah, Logan gave me a number- ex-Seals or some such shit. They were here first thing this morning; two guys at her door and two others roaming the halls." His gaze pinned her to the chair. "You really think someone tried to kill her?"

"Her or Lisa, but it definitely wasn't an accident." Veronica stood. "Any word on when I can see her?"

"Not until they move her out of ICU, which won't happen until they wake her up." Veronica inclined her head and raised a quizzical eyebrow. Dick shrugged. "A week, ten days? The doctors are slippery fuckers; they don't want to commit themselves with a straight answer."

"Bastards." She glanced at the clock. It was almost eight and time to meet Weevil. "I've got to go; call me if there's any change."

"Will do, Ronniekins."

"You know I hate that name even more than Ronnie, right?"

"Yep."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag. "Don't choke on the garlic knots Dick." His laughter followed her through the door.

Weevil was already waiting for her in front of the hospital. He'd taken up smoking since his divorce much to the chagrin of _everyone_, but at this moment the parking attendant was particularly distressed. He was alternately staring at Weevil and then the No Smoking sign affixed to the building, but he wasn't saying anything. The smirk on Weevil's face and the way he was blowing smoke directly at the disgruntled valet said he was enjoying the man's discomfort.

"Don't be an asshole; put that out," Veronica reprimanded.

Weevil grinned at her, stubbed out the cigarette on the bottom of his shoe and tossed it in the garbage can. "All he had to do was ask."

"All you had to do was read." She gave the valet her ticket, waited until he scurried away and turned to Weevil. "Must you scare the children?"

"A new pair of underwear and he'll be fine." He frowned at her. "He deserved it; _assumed_ I was part of the night maintenance crew and told me to use the back entrance."

"Ah Neptune, there's no place like home." The valet hurried back with the car—_probably eager to get rid of Weevil_ — and gave Veronica a look of disapproval at her choice of companion. She flipped him off and Weevil chuckled. "It's times like this when I miss my taser."

"No Mr. Sparky?"

She shook her head. "It's Heckler and Koch now, but he wasn't worth the lead."

"And you call me the scary one?"

"I didn't actually shoot him, did I?" It wasn't a long drive, but it was long enough for her to run through entry scenarios. The last time she broke into the garage all it took was waiting for the guard to be on the far side of building and a crowbar for the door. She was hoping the intervening years would be kind to her and there were no major security upgrades, but just in case, she'd brought her tools.

"How's Mac doing?"

"Still in the coma; they're saying a week, maybe ten days, before they wake her up and then we can visit." _And I can find out what she learned at Kane Software_.

"Not an accident?"

It was probably a bad idea to tell him her suspicions before he had a chance to look at the car; she didn't want it influencing what he saw. "I could be wrong," she hedged.

"Yeah and it could also snow tomorrow."

"It's happened before." Both the snow and her being wrong, of course the being wrong part happened way more frequently than the snow. "Keep an open mind and tell me what you think. I promise not to shoot you if you disagree with me."

"There you go talking about shooting again- are you sure they gave you a gun permit?"

"I need a permit?" —she dropped her jaw in mock surprise— "Who knew."

As they approached the garage, she slowed down. The warehouse was now surrounded by a high chain-link fence and the entire space was illuminated by flood lights. She turned the corner. The lot adjacent to the one she wanted was the actual impound lot filled with vehicles towed for parking violations. A security office sat at its entrance. Veronica tapped the brakes and peered through the window. No guard was visible, but that probably meant he was making rounds.

She completed the circuit of the lot, killed the headlights and parked. There were enough shadows around the perimeter to protect them from view while they cut through the fence, but they would be totally exposed between the fence and the warehouse. It was an industrial section of town, which meant no neighbors to spy on them. She surveyed the other buildings. They were all dark and none of them seemed to have any security patrols or cameras pointed in their direction. She hit the button for the interior lights so they wouldn't come on when they opened their doors.

"I'll cut the fence, there." Veronica pointed to the section of chain-link that would put them closest to the door. "You go watch the guard shack- when he returns to his post, we'll go in."

He paused with his hand on the door. "Want to take my picture now or later? Here's Uncle Weevil at your first break-in" —he pointed at her stomach— "you know, for the baby book."

She rolled her eyes. "Just make sure there are no dogs."

Grinning, he slipped out the car. He kept to the far side of the street and made his way toward the front of the lot. Veronica gave him a five minute head start before retrieving her duffel bag and bolt cutters from the trunk. Pulling on a pair of thick gloves, she quietly lowered the trunk and jogged across the street. She located the vertical wire and made five quick cuts, about a foot apart. Using her gloved hands, she grabbed the cut hunk of wire and screwed it back like a corkscrew. It wound its way off the mesh creating a large enough hole for them to slip through.

It didn't take long for him to reappear. "We're good- no dogs, no cameras."

Shoving the bolt cutter into her bag, she removed the crowbar and slung the bag across her body. She slipped through the hole and waited for him to join her. Once they were both through, they ran. Veronica used the pry bar to open the door and hurried inside with Weevil on her heels. No alarm sounded when she cracked the door, but most alarms had a forty-five second delay. She clicked on her flashlight to scan the door frame for wires or sensors and found neither. "I think we're okay."

The cavernous space was divided into four separate bays- all of them empty save for two. One held disassembled parts of what, judging from the grill, was once a truck and in the other occupied bay was the Toyota. Veronica moved the beam of light over the wreck. The sight of the twisted metal made the gorge rise up the back of her throat and she swallowed it down to keep from vomiting. It only vaguely resembled a car. The driver's door and rear panel were completely crushed into the passenger seat. It wasn't surprising that Lisa died on the scene; what was shocking was that Mac survived.

She handed Weevil his own flashlight and watched as he circled the car. He took his time; first studying the buckled driver's side and then the passenger side. Dropping to the ground, he shimmied his way under the engine. Veronica didn't know what he was looking for, but she figured the conversation could wait until he was done. He climbed out from beneath the car. The hood was completely gone; ripped off either in the accident itself or when it went over the guardrail. Weevil ran the light across the engine, pausing at various points and leaning forward for a closer inspection. Then he moved to the rear of the car.

Squatting by the trunk, he shined his flashlight over the bumper. "Different color paint." Veronica moved closer to see what he was talking about. "Here." He directed the beam of light at the speck of blue paint transfer. Weevil moved to the driver's side and pointed out the red paint transfer that Norris mentioned. "I'm guessing someone hit them from behind first- made the car spin out and then they got t-boned."

Sandwiched between two cars- the one coming up behind them and the other approaching from the front would leave them no possible escape route. "How did it go over the guardrail?"

Holding his hand out, palm downward, he demonstrated. "The point of impact here would tilt the car at this angle." He titled his hand with the pinkie side elevated. "Then as they continued to get pushed, the car would go up and over." He flipped his hand over so his palm was now facing upwards.

"Anything else?"

Weevil shook his head. "Hard to tell; there's a lot of damage, but it doesn't look like there was any tampering with the brake lines."

"Let's get out of here before the guard makes another pass."

They retraced their steps. Veronica used a few zip ties to secure the chain-link. It wouldn't hold up under close inspection, but from a distance you couldn't tell that the fence had been cut. Neither of them said anything else until they were back in the car. "You were right, not an accident."

"I wish I would've been wrong this time."

Weevil nodded. "I know I don't need to say it, but I'm gonna anyway- be careful, V; whoever staged this accident wasn't playing around."

"Thanks for coming with me."

"Come on, you know I can't resist that head tilt thing."

She grinned. "Don't feel bad; there's no man alive who can resist my charming personality and sunny disposition."

"I don't even know how you say things like that with a straight face."

"Practice."

Weevil directed her through the hospital parking lot to the space with his motorcycle. "Call me if you need me."

Once he was on his bike, she turned the car around and headed home. She took the long route, making unnecessary turns and checking her rearview mirror to make sure she wasn't followed. When she was sure that she was alone, she drove to the house. Logan left the porch light on for her. She turned it off, threw the deadbolt on the front door and reset the alarm. Then she moved through the house checking the locks on the rest of the doors.

A line of light under her bedroom door told her that Logan was still awake. She peeked in on Wyatt first. The baby was splayed across the bed on her back; thumb in her mouth and Cuddles tucked in the crook of her arm. Veronica kissed her forehead and fixed the blanket. "I love you sweet pea."

She exited the room, put the baby gate across the doorway and pushed open her own bedroom door. Logan lowered the book he was reading.

"You didn't have to wait up for me, but" —she stripped off her jeans— "I'm glad you did." He remained silent and watched her get undressed. She pulled off her shirt and tossed it on the chair. Now only in her bra and briefs, she waited for the suggestive comment and the rakish grin, but his eyes remained firmly fixed on her face. _Something's wrong._ Veronica crawled up the bed. "Whatcha reading?" Taking the book from his hands, she glanced at the cover— _The Sun Also Rises_— and dropped it on the nightstand. "Not really a sleep inducer unless read in Mrs. Murphy's monotone."

_Still no response_. She swung her leg over him; her knees pressed into the mattress on either side of his waist. Reflexively, his hands cradled her hips. He studied her face for a minute and finally asked, "Are you worried?"

Veronica frowned. "Can you narrow that down for me? Worried about global warming, the rising price of—"

"Worried about me?"

She sat on his stomach. "What's wrong?"

"Earlier when you asked where I would score coke- is it…are you worried that since I've left the Navy, I may—"

Veronica put her hand over his mouth. "No. I told you it was for that case. Have you been thinking about this all night?" He nodded. "Logan" —she took her hand away from his mouth— "why didn't you say something earlier? I would've stayed home and we could've talked about it."

Tilting his head back, he stared at the ceiling. "How did it go with Weevil? Were you able to see the car?"

"Why are you trying to change the subject?"

"What else is there to say? I got it- you're not worried and it was entirely about the trophy wife case."

"That was convincing." She climbed off both him and the bed. "Good thing I didn't stay home to talk- it would've been a wasted evening." Opening his dresser drawer, she pulled out his _Fly Navy_ tee-shirt and tugged it over her head.

"Just yesterday you stood in our kitchen and told me you were worried about us- worried that I was unhappy and missing the Navy. Or was that a different tiny blonde?"

Slamming the drawer shut, she whirled around to face him. "That has nothing to do with this."

"Really Veronica? Because it sounds like the _exact_ same thing to me." He sat up and swung his legs off the mattress, but he didn't leave the bed. He just sat there staring blankly at the wall with his fingers curled around the edge of the mattress and his shoulders rigid.

"I thought you missed _flying_ and were maybe a little bored. I didn't think, shit Logan's left the Navy, guess that means he's going to start drinking and doing drugs again. That thought never once crossed my mind and I resent the accusation."

"It wasn't an accusation." The fight drained out of him and his shoulders slumped. Closing his eyes, he bowed his head. "Things are different now; _I'm_ different and I would never—"

"Stop." Veronica crossed the room to stand in front of him. Gently, she stroked the back of his head. "I'm not worried about that, not even a little bit. It's just that you loved the Navy, Logan. It gave your life direction, _purpose_ and you walked away."

"For my daughter."

"I know." She kissed the top of his head. "I don't want you to regret anything."

"I want to be a good father." He raised his face. "That's my purpose, the thing that's most important to me." His hand molded itself around the curve of her belly. "Please believe me when I tell you this is who I am now and what I want is to be here with my family."

"I believe you." She cupped his face. "Now believe me- the only reason I asked you about the coke was because I was hoping you'd help me."

He arched a brow. "Does Veronica Mars want me to play detective?"

"Well… it is kind of sexy when you do."

"Sexy?" He slid his hands up her thighs and cradled her hips.

"Mmm-hmm." Placing her knees on either side of him, she lowered herself onto his lap. "This communication thing is exhausting- no wonder I avoided it all those years."

He grinned as his fingers toyed with the lacy edge of her boyshorts and then dipped beneath them to stroke her skin. "If you're tired, we should get you right to bed."

"Probably a good idea." Veronica ran her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. She bent her head and feathered tiny kisses along his jawbone.

Lifting her up, Logan twisted his torso to lay her on the mattress. "You know, that's my tee shirt." At her puzzled expression, he tugged the hem. "And I'd like it back now."

She smiled. "That could be arranged."


End file.
